YEARS LATER, ROSA SAID, “OF COURSE I WANTED TO STAY IN CALIFORNIA, BUT SOMEONE HAD TO GO BACK AND TAKE CARE OF MYRTLE AND JUANITA”. THIS DECISION BY THIRTEEN-YEAR OLD ROSA WAS THE FIRST OF MANY EXAMPLES OF THE SORT OF PERSON SHE WAS. SHE HAD GREAT STRENGTH, AND A STUBBORN DETERMINATION TO FULFILL HER RESPONSIBILITIES AND TO DO THE RIGHT THING BY HER OWN CODE OF RIGHT AND WRONG.

     ON 1/15/1920, ROSA MARRIED JESSIE CRETH VANTREESE. JUST ABOUT FOUR MONTHS BEFORE, IN OCTOBER OF 1919, HER OLDER BROTHER, LOYD FEE, HAD MARRIED BESSE MAE VANTREESE, SISTER OF JESSE. LOYD FEE HAD MET THE VANTREESE FAMILY WHEN HE RODE HORSEBACK TO THE SAN LUIS VALLEY TO FIND WORK ON THE FARMS THERE.

     JESSE AND ROSA FARMED LAND IN THE STANLEY DISTRICT IN THE SAN LUIS VALLEY. ROSA WAS A CHARTER MEMBER OF THE STANLEY EXTENSION CLUB, WAS ACTIVE IN THE FARM BUREAU AND P.T.A. AND ALWAYS HELPED WITH THE STANLEY FAIR IN SEPTEMBER.

     JESSE VANTREESE, REPORTEDLY, WAS A VERY STINGY MAN. ROSA EARNED HER OWN HOUSEHOLD MONEY AND SPENDING MONEY BY SELLING EGGS AND BUTTER, QUILTING, SEWING AND MAKING SOME CRAFTS. AT TIMES SHE MADE SMALL, CRAFT FLOWERS FOR LAPEL PINS. SHE WOULD SEND THEM TO HER SISTER, JUANITA, WHO WOULD HAVE HER CHILDREN SELL THEM DOOR TO DOOR. THE ROBBS CHILDREN WERE SHY AND REALLY HATED DOING THIS.

     EVEN THOUGH THE VANTREESE FAMILY WAS NOT WELL OFF, ROSA SOMEHOW ALWAYS MANAGED TO SEND A BOX TO JUANITA’S FAMILY EVERY CHRISTMAS WITH A GIFT FOR EACH CHILD. THE ROBBS SOMETIMES HAD NO MONEY TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS, SO THE CHILDREN WERE THRILLED TO RECEIVE THESE GIFTS FROM AUNT ROSA, NO MATTER HOW SMALL.

     ROSA ALWAYS PACKED HER CHILDREN’S SCHOOL LUNCHES IN TIN CANS. EVERY DAY SHE PACKED THEM A GOOD LUNCH INCLUDING HARD BOILED EGGS. HER KIDS WOULD TRADE THOSE EGGS TO OTHER KIDS FOR LITTLE GUINEA HEN EGGS, BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE CUTER. IN LATER YEARS, AT EVERY SINGLE THANKSGIVING DINNER, ROSA WOULD TELL THE STORY ABOUT HOW EARL, AT DINNER ONE EVENING, SAID, “WOULD YOU PLEASE PASS THE GREASE GRABBY? THIS SURE IS GOOD GREASE GRABBY!” HIS BROTHER PURL REPLIED, “EARL, IF YOU CAN’T SAY GRABBY, JUST DON’T SAY GRABBY!”

     IN 1943, ROSA WROTE HER SISTER JUANITA A LETTER. SHE SAID, “IN ONE MORE MONTH EARL WILL BE 16 YEARS OLD, THEN MY PRISON TERM WILL BE OVER.” LIFE ON THE FARM IN MONTE VISTA, CO. HAD NOT BEEN PLEASANT FOR ROSA. SHE SAID THAT NOT ONLY DID JESS DRINK A LOT, BUT FOR WEEKS AT A TIME HE DID NOT SPEAK TO HER. MILT ONCE ASKED, “DON’T YOU EVER SMILE JESS?’ HIS REPLY WAS, “WHAT IS THERE TO SMILE ABOUT?” WHEN THAT MONTH WAS OVER, ROSA TOOK THE BUS TO HER SISTER JUANITA;S HOME IN EDMONSON, TEXAS.

     ROSA LIVED IN A CONSERVATIVE TIME WHICH REQUIRED WOMEN TO REMAIN IN NARROWLY DEFINED TRADITIONAL ROLES. ROSA'S DECISION TO LEAVE HER HUSBAND AND LIVE HER OWN LIFE BROUGHT CONDEMNATION AND CRITICISM FROM ALMOST EVERYONE, PARTICULARLY FROM HER FAMILY. FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE WORLD OF FIFTY YEARS LATER, HER DECISION CAN BE SEEN AS COURAGEOUS, SHE BECAME A LIBERATED WOMEN THIRTY YEARS BEFORE THE PHRASE WAS COINED.

     THERE WASN’T ANY WORK FOR ROSA IN EDMONSON, SO SHE TOOK A BUS TO HER SISTER GLADYS’ HOME IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. HER FIRST JOB THERE WAS SEWING APRONS IN A FACTORY. LATER SHE WORKED IN THE POST OFFICE IN CAMP ROBERTS, CA. SHE WORKED THERE FOR SEVERAL YEARS. SHE ACQUIRED A SMALL MOBILE HOME, A CAR, AND A BOYFRIEND NAMED JOHN SOLNAVE. ROSA LIVED WITH JOHN FOR SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE THEY PARTED COMPANY AND SHE MOVED TO SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

     WHILE WORKING IN SEATTLE, SHE VISITED HER SISTER GLADYS AND HER FRIENDS IN OLYMPIA. ROSA MET THE LOVE OF HER LIFE IN OLYMPIA, JIM O’BRIAN. THE TWO OF THEM OWNED AND OPERATED A SMALL TRAILER COURT THERE FOR MANY YEARS UNTIL JIM PASSED AWAY. RL AND SALLY ROBBS HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE TO BE NEAR ROSA FOR A TIME WHILE RL WAS STATIONED AT FORT LEWIS IN TACOMA. THEY SPENT MANY WEEKEND VISITS WITH ROSA AND JIM.

     RICHARD “DICK”, CINDY CLELAND AND FAMILY MOVED TO SUMNER WA. IN 1978. AT THAT TIME THEY BECAME ACQUAINTED WITH THEIR GREAT AUNT ROSA. AUNT ROSA BECAME THE ‘GRANDMOTHER’ THAT THEY HAD NEVER KNOWN.

     ROSA SPENT ALL OF HER HOLIDAYS WITH THE CLELANDS. SHE WOULD BUMP INTO THE DRIVE WAY WITH SOME NEW UNUSUAL GIFTS SHE HAD JUST MADE, HER SUNGLASSES ON, AND BARELY PEERING OVER THE STEERING WHEEL, OFTEN WEARING SOME NEWLY CREATED AND UNUSUAL HEADGEAR. THE BACK OF HER LITTLE RED TOYOTA STATION WAGON WAS ALWAYS LOADED WITH TREASURES. SHE MIGHT BRING A BIG BUNCH OF JAPANESE LANTERNS, MONEY PLANTS, COSTUME JEWELRY FOR THE GIRLS, SOMETHING KNITTED OR CROCHETED, A BIG BOX FULL OF MAGAZINES. SHE WOULD OFTEN BRING AN EMPTY ICE CREAM BUCKET FOR THE BOYS, PRESENTING THEM WITH THE GIFT OF ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES. THEY COULD FILL THAT BUCKET WITH ANYTHING THEY WANTED, ROCKS, SAND, DIRT, WATER OR SHELLS. ROSA HAD A TRULY INGENIOUS GIFT IDEA WHEN SHE LEARNED THAT HER GREAT NEPHEW, R.J. HAD ONE OF HIS EAR’S PIERCED. THE NEXT TIME SHE VISITED THE CLELANDS, SHE BROUGHT A BIG CONTAINER OF ALL OF HER EARRINGS TO WHICH SHE HAD LOST THE MATES. ROSA FOUND USES FOR THINGS THE ORDINARY PERSON DEEMED AS JUNK, SHE MADE ART OUT OF GARBAGE AND CLOTHES OUT OF SCRAPS. SHE WAS CREATIVE, CONSTANTLY INDUSTRIOUS AND IN HER DRIVE TO RECYCLE, SHE WAS AGAIN, AHEAD OF HER TIME.

 

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