Humans of SLA Beeber: Alba Rhoads

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Interview With Alba Iris Rhoads(mom)

by Iris Wilson


Iris: What’s your earliest childhood memory?


Alba: My mom, Delia was cooking and I asked if I could outside and play. She said yes and took us (me, Tita, and Mama) out on to the porch. The fire hydrant was on and some boy were playing in it. They were about 12 years old maybe. I wanted to play too. My mom said okay, but be careful. I ran right up to the front and tried to hang onto it, but the pressure was so high that it knocked me down and split my chin on the ground. My mom was already on her way to me. As soon as I turned around, she was there picking me up. She put me in her little yellow car and my sisters followed. I got three stitches, but I got to eat ice cream at bedtime for two weeks, and stay up watching Alice In Wonderland, Bambi and Pinocchio while my sisters were sleeping.


Iris: How would you define happiness?


Alba: For my kids to get along and always want to help each other out with a lot of things. Doing chores, picking out outfits when one has a date or job interview, building a lego house, looking for a song one of them heard in a movie. Eating a nice affordable dinner as a family once a week, everyone cleaning up afterward. To live somewhere quiet in a more natural environment, and every time we separate, even if one of us is just going to the store….say I love you because god can take up at any moment.


Iris: What’s a story you always remembered and why?


Alba: One time (at Grandma Alba’s house) someone broke in and we (me, Tammy and Sandra) were home alone. I was just a baby so they wrapped me in a blanket, gave me a bottle and shoved me under the bed to hide me. Tammy said I fell asleep in a few minutes. I remember now because I’m a mom and I can only wonder how kids so small, make such a decision under those circumstances and remain so quiet that they didn’t even know we were in the house the whole time.


Iris: Describe your favorite memory.


Alba: My mom, Delia, let us watch Samson and then Delilah put us to bed. She dressed me in my strawberry shortcake pajamas and helped me brush my teeth with my smurfs toothbrush. We went to our room and mommy put on the night light for us. I grabbed Raggedy Anne and she covered me with my strawberry shortcake sheet, then kissed my cheek and said she loves me.


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