Sandra Levy and Lily Fernandez

00:03 Hi, my name is Lily Fernandez. I'm 13 years old today is February 20th 2016. I'm in San Antonio, Texas and I'm here with my grandmother.

00:14 Hi, I am the grandmother Sandra Levy and I am 73 years old. It's February 20th 2016. I'm in San Antonio, Texas and I'm here with my granddaughter Lily and my daughter Blakely.

00:34 I'm so grants. And where were you born? I was born in Vallejo, California. It's just over the bridge from San Francisco and it is where my parents lived during World War II when my dad was working for the Navy their building submarines. So is that why you moved out there know they moved out there my parents moved out there because of the Oklahoma dust storms.

01:02 They were farmers and they couldn't couldn't work anymore. They're so they went to California to the new land in the promised land and then

01:14 I was I was born there and I was about 3 when we left, where'd you go when you left when we left we went to Amarillo, Texas because my mother's sister live there and they were about to go home to Montana and they said we could bring their house and I think that's why they picked Amarillo. Did you leave California after World War II?

01:41 Yes, I was three years old when we laughed and I was born in 42 and I think that was pretty much the year the war started.

01:51 Do you remember anything from Thor?

01:55 Now I was too young.

01:59 So my mom said that you did pageants and stuff when you were really little I was in the beauty pageant for San Francisco when I was three and I perform songs and my they gave us our record of it ahead of LP of it for years and years. I don't know what happened to it. But I sang several songs mostly church songs. Do you remember them? And you do do you want to sing them?

02:30 Let's see. Jesus loves the little children of the world. That's a beautiful world.

02:53 It was a pretty funny LP and I won third place really.

03:05 So when you move to Amarillo, what was it? Like like do you remember moving? I don't really remember moving the first thing I remember about that is we had a big tree in the front yard, and my brother was always daring me to jump out of it.

03:24 So I did to my landed on my other brothers motorcycle.

03:29 And got hurt I had to crawl around for about a week cuz I just want my back on it. So that was my first memory of that place. And then I remember I started first grade there and I had a friend down the street name Judy and her little brother was Mickey.

03:46 And he came to our house for Cherry Pie and he'd come to the back door and Satan met the man you like cherry pie.

04:03 So do you only have two brothers? I have three brothers I have Rex was 9 years older than me and then Max the 7 years older and then Donnie who is just one year older. See you're the youngest youngest. What are do you have any like really good memories with them?

04:23 Yeah, I have a whole life full of memories with them Rex was the one my oldest brother kind of took care of me and he built a gym in our basement and another house in Amarillo and invited me down to learn how to lift weights with him. I remember that and Max my best memories of him as he had a girlfriend who had lots of pretty clothes and I got picked to go to Music Camp when I was in seventh grade if she'll ended me lots of her pretty clothes. So she was my favorite girlfriend of hist and Donnie's memories that I have are pretty violent. He was like totally jealous of me because I came too fast. It's just one when I was born so he could never get over the fact that I showed up.

05:12 And took his main objective.

05:15 Attention off of him. But anyway, he was he and I were like

05:20 Little bit like cats and dogs

05:25 How do you feel?

05:27 The only girl at the Young

05:29 Three boys what it mainly felt like was

05:34 I didn't get the attention that I should have gotten I should have been the princess and nobody treated me like that.

05:41 So I was always kind of Scruffy and trying to get everybody to take my oldest brother treated me like that, but the other two just

05:51 Like nothing was real. I mean there wasn't any big deal back. My mother was was really more partial to the boys.

06:04 So you went to high school in the 50s, right? Did you wear like the poodle skirts that they wear in the movies blue poodle skirt with a white poodle and a red bow on it and they do just got a big old piece of felt and put it in the circle and then made a circle here and stepped into it and you didn't have to hand them or anything. Everybody had poodle skirts Every Girl in Town. Oh, wow. We all had poodle skirts, and I don't know why that caught on but it totally did it and we were those crinoline.

06:39 Petticoat underneath it to make it stand way out.

06:43 Was is it like the TV shows now, like how it's portrayed in the TV shows? It was pretty good. Pretty good.

06:57 So I'm 13 now was do you think that there's any differences from when you were 13 to now between when I was 13 and have your 13 now? Well, the biggest difference is just the whole technological age. You know that changed everything.

07:18 We had neighborhoods and we played outside until dark and you know we go we could sometimes go to the next block season and nobody lock their houses and there was no crime when never heard of crime.

07:35 So it was a lot simpler. It was a lot simpler life.

07:40 And we brought bikes and we played you no touch the tree or whatever. It is Red Rover Red Rover and our parents yelled for us when it was time to come in.

07:54 It was real simple. We didn't have car seats. We didn't have seat belt. We didn't have flakka cars.

08:06 So you mentioned technology. Do you remember like when you got your first cell phone or not? Cell phone your first phone or TV or anyting RTV? We got that was a big deal when the TV is came out. It only came on at 4 in the afternoon and up until they said it was just this Big Snowy picture, but would run home from school so we could be there when the TV came on and it was black and white and it was I don't remember anything. So it was all totally dull but on Saturdays we could see the Saturday shows for kids and that was good. That was a huge deal and we were kind of late and getting are so I was petting my foot.

08:52 And my mother never would ever say yes to anything if I ask her for something. It was always will see or maybe

09:02 And so rather than just tell me yes or no. She was always well, we'll see I'll see I'll think about it and so out from my big dream when I was 13 is that she would quit doing that and just say yes or no.

09:17 Are we going to get a TV or we going to get a TV? Are we going to get a TV? I'll see I'll see depends during the TV show House when my parents were real religious. So we only got to listen to church stuff and so I didn't sit there that much.

09:42 What was it like growing up in a in a really religious household?

09:48 It was tough because I wasn't that religious and I met Jesus when I was like three in my Sunday School classes, and I knew that all he talked about was love and what they were talking about was wrong. So I was a real rebel. I started as a little bitty bitty girl said. No, that's not right because Jesus was just about loving the little children. We were in a Southern Baptist church and they talked about being afraid of God and that God would strike you down and all this stuff. So I sat in the back at the church was doing this all the time.

10:28 And my mother was in the choir doing this.

10:38 Do you ever sing choir for your church?

10:43 I played the piano for the choir. So I never really played at that sang in the choir sang in the choir at school and I was in a music group a sextet that was six girls that we sang for about 6 years from 7th grade to 12th grade and with the around the city for the rotary people in the you know, all the various little local yokels that wanted some entertainment at lunch. That was our way to get out of school.

11:14 So like I know you really like to sing now. Did you ever have a career in singing or did you ever like one of your singer? I thought it was going to be a famous singer famous movie star singer.

11:26 And my girlfriend who actually lives right here in Fredericksburg. Now it was going to be president if we had plans and

11:37 I married a musician first. And once I saw that live in California it really burst my bubble cuz it's a tough life. But yeah, I did sing in that group and we recorded some songs and we're always thinking that somehow would be famous. We could we got to do the background on.

12:00 This is Buddy Holly's group.

12:03 When we were in seventh grade, they let us do the doo wop. Bop bop. Bop bop.

12:10 Did you ever have like an idol when you were a kid?

12:14 Yeah, mainly it was the Beatles. I wouldn't all that much of a little kid. That was my first real Idol. I didn't like Elvis Presley.

12:23 And when he came to town or Baptist preacher just lambasted that with my I didn't even ask my parents to go cuz I knew they wouldn't let me but he was the Talk of the Town and I never really liked him after I got a little older as I got more in tune to what really good musicians were but the Beatles were the first one that really

12:47 Made my heart beat fast.

12:53 And so now you really like art, right? So what started you loving art when I was in elementary school?

13:02 Don't know I was seventh grade. I was in it was called Junior High then and we had an art class. We had art class in music class and PE and and then we had English historian. Just three other classes, but I had an art class and we carved and soap and Ivory soap and I made this.

13:23 Just I didn't know what it was, but it was actually a shape of the

13:29 And what's it called? Those people that are in the in the mound. Anyway, it was kind of an Egyptian ship shape and I just carved it.

13:39 From its carving

13:42 And I won first place in the school and I was 7th grade. I was really young and then a girlfriend's mother wanted to buy it from me.

13:53 And I was so surprised. I just gave it to her. I was shocked the things I felt it was any big deal.

13:59 And so that made me know that I had a little bit of a of a chance with it, and then I went to Art School my first year of college.

14:09 What college did you go to that was the Oklahoma University. I went there for one year and all I took was Art, so I didn't get very far.

14:22 Vista College art classes they had so I didn't get any I didn't even get the first years requirements and then

14:32 I went to art school after I had all my kids in Corpus. I went to Del Mar College and I just took our classes again. I never did take any so I've had some good art classes.

14:47 A home and then you are alive when Kennedy was President right when Kennedy was pregnant.

15:04 You were alive again.

15:16 When Kennedy

15:24 How many water?

15:28 President when he was Fred. Yes. I thought that was my first time to vote. I was 18 when Kennedy was president and when he came to Amarillo to campaign, thank you. He and Jackie I came there and we skip school and went to see him and I got in so much trouble for skipping school and be for like and Kennedy because he was Catholic and my parents did not accept that at all.

15:59 And so my rebellious this just blew up into shoot huge. I'm right and you're wrong. Anyway, I love to Kennedy. I totally loved him in that and I never felt that way again until Obama. That's crazy. It was my very first time to vote I was so proud.

16:20 Wow.

16:24 So you are also alive during like the Vietnam War and the Korean War right? I was really little during the Korean war that was in the forties the early 50s and not had an uncle in that war. That was a prisoner of war and

16:41 We never saw him for life.

16:44 6 years until filing when it was over and they exchange apartment be exchanged prisoners he came back and that was my dad's youngest brother. And then so I knew about the Korean War.

16:58 And every night we had to pray together and so my I always just coffee but everybody else said and they all prayed for the Koreans and I was praying for the Koreans and Mom said that war is over.

17:15 BFF

17:24 But the Vietnam War where kids my age going to that and I knew a lot of

17:32 Conscientious objectors. We were seniors in high school in that started in and you know, they had the draft that time and so kids are just getting snapped up and I had two or three friends guy friends who went to Canada and said I'm not doing that war and that just turned into a nightmare because

17:52 Half of the country was not buying it from the very beginning and there were lots of

18:02 How do you call him when you repel?

18:06 When you read revolutions revolts, you know where people would get outside the White House or get outside anywhere, they could find and scream and yell about it. And it was also during the time of the hippies and so it was a you know, they were for love and peace. I think it probably had something to do with creating the hippies.

18:30 Was there any tension in the household it was there any tension in the household since you were pretty rebellious and it seems like you're there was nothing but tension. Yeah, there's nothing but tension my brothers were all real compliant.

18:46 And a

18:48 Did what was asked of them and we're pretty quiet guys and I just wasn't having it any of it. I like the wrong, you know president and I like the wrong churches and I like the wrong everything. So I was just kind of always in trouble.

19:02 What about when it came to the Vietnam War?

19:05 You know, I didn't really have an opinion about that. I didn't know enough about it. I knew that some guys were leaving and not going to it and I'll listen but the first time I really got any information that made me stand up listen was when Jane Fonda went over to

19:22 Vietnam and was accused of acting like she was for the Vietnamese. It was all a misunderstanding, but I was more into movie stars than I was Wars. So I paid attention when she started yelling about it.

19:37 Did your brothers get drafted for the war?

19:42 I don't know how they all missed that I have no idea. He would have been the only one at the right age and he had a lot of Health stuff. So that was probably why everybody had to go register.

20:03 Did you?

20:05 Otzi you've had like a lot of different careers right now. I know you're a hairdresser for a while. I started doing hair when I was 16. I got my license while I was in high school and I started doing hair. I graduated first semester my senior year so I could go work. I got interested more interested in making money than I did school and I got into a really good Salon in Amarillo where everybody went and

20:38 I'd stayed there until I decided to go to OU and I did heroin know you while I was going to school to just pay for my way. And then and I kept doing hair when your granddad and I got married. We went to Austin when he started law school and that's how we live there as I did heroin.

21:02 Supported us while he was in law school and then when he got out and we move to Corpus I hung up. My sister's I was really tired. That's a tough.

21:14 Profession and as much as I loved it.

21:19 It was like my legs would know I was getting too old for it. You got to be 12 units 18.

21:24 To do that. So then after that I did just because I always wanted my own money. And so I sell Mary Kay cosmetics.

21:35 For a while. I was terrible at that and

21:41 Then later when I had to support myself when Granddaddy and I divorced I went into real estate because I I need it. I really needed to make some real money then and so I got into real estate in Austin and then I went from Austin.

22:02 2

22:04 I think I went from there to California or no it from there to Breckenridge and then I went to California.

22:10 And I did Real Estate in both of those places and then in California is just to the real estate was in Malibu and the end of the smallest Shack was $1000000.

22:23 And there were black Malibu head. I don't know 17,000 people and they had 550 Realtors.

22:31 So I wouldn't even close. I mean I

22:35 I wouldn't I didn't know one woman and so I ditched that and did a few odd jobs around and I came back and did hair again when I came back to Texas after that, but

22:48 I was just too old.

22:50 But when you were a kid, did you like dream of being a hairdresser? You know why I got to be a hairdresser was because my hair was real curly and nobody could do my hair just look would look worse and worse and worse than anybody that touch my hair made it home s out of it. So I went to hairdressing school to see if I could figure out what to do with my hair if it was really curly then

23:15 And the tip of the iceberg with my mom got me a perm to learn how to do a curly hair.

23:32 And I said sister and that I really liked it and I was really good at it. And so it was it was a good thing to do for a while.

23:42 When you are married to Grandad like you adopted Chase. Was that a really big decision for you?

23:50 You know.

23:53 Chase Chase is my youngest son.

23:56 And when we were in Corpus Christi, I met a girl through my friend. Jennifer was her cousin.

24:06 And her name was Bradley and she lived turned out she lived right around the corner from us and

24:15 She and I became really good friends fast, and she was just kind of a wild child and it was like watching her life was like watching a wreck about to happen. She was really on the edge and I was just kind of fascinated with her because of that smells really like if she was a good friend and she got pregnant cuz she wanted to have a baby she wasn't married, but she wanted a baby.

24:40 And so she got pregnant didn't tell the daddy didn't didn't tell anybody told her parents and

24:49 When it's about time then she was going to give the baby up for adoption.

24:54 And she found a girl from California that wanted that baby and right at the end. She said I want to keep him.

25:02 So the poor girl in California was call too much about the baby bed and all of that. So anyway, right at the last ditch effort she decided to keep him and then she got real scared and said if I don't if he hates me, will you take him?

25:16 And as to why he won't hate you.

25:19 He'll love you. But yes, I'll take him if he hates you and then she was alcoholic and she had a tragic death just right after he was about 3 months old or 2 months old. And so when that happened I just went and got him.

25:36 And everybody was that we had we got him so fast, I told Mel's.

25:41 You know what had happened that I told her that and he said yeah we're taking so we just did it. We did it so fast and Mel's had was in the courthouse the next morning getting papers and so the family and the cousins and everybody that might have taken him didn't even know what it happened. He was are so fast and it for some reason it wasn't a big decision. We all just it was like he was supposed to be with us. We just know what yeah. Yeah. That's our baby.

26:10 Yeah, it was me.

26:13 So you're married three times, right? And the first one was the musician from come as a musician. He was actually from Amarillo and had been doing music in Amarillo a lot when my group with singing and so we met him at some of the recording places that would go to and he was just an amazing musician had never had any lessons at all. I've had lessons all my life and he could play circles around me on the piano and he just play by ear and just buy it just reached. So I was real fascinated with that and I would like to come home for my first year at OU.

26:53 And my house was just too too tough had been free for a year and not to know coming back into my narrow-minded family was just hard and sober to ask me to marry him and I said, oh, I don't think I want to get married and he said I'm going to join the Navy if you don't marry me.

27:14 And I said, oh, okay, so we got

27:25 I saw a ticket out of Dodge. It's what I saw. He had a brand new Chevy Malibu and he was going to California for me to be living the new year. So that's really what happened. He came out and asked my Mother and Daddy if he could marry me and he had on his musician tight. Jean real tight down to the bottom in this high high boots that come up high like musicians wear and his hair was a big pompadour like Elvis.

28:01 And they had no clue. What does it take for me to go to my parents and I

28:22 And you had Uncle Kevin with him, right? Yep. We were married for three years and then I got pregnant with Kevin.

28:32 And our life was so erratic because we just lived on his musician and and that life is especially in La you know where there's so much competition.

28:42 So soon as I got pregnant I started making plans to go to Amber. I had to get out of there now because there wasn't a day I couldn't see us raising a baby. Oh, wow, we couldn't afford to I needed to work and I was working out. There's only way we were paying our rent really and so

29:03 I just took him in went back to Amarillo right for now. He's got time to have him.

29:08 I ran away I ran home. And so when I went to have Kevin at the hospital, Donnie took my brother, that's a year old and no.

29:23 He got so he's just he was just like in the movies what you see when you have a dad.

29:34 It was The Scream.

29:41 And then you married my granddad, right? Yes, and then I married a male's I wouldn't I went back to when I went back to Amarillo. I had my little baby and I went back to the hair salon that I've worked in before picked right up where I left off and I couldn't have done that in California. I didn't know any people out there plus I didn't have my license up there yet. So yeah, I was able to support him and then I did his mother's hair. That's how I met him.

30:12 I didn't Annie's Hair and she was the hardest person in the whole world to do her hair in the owner with had always done her hair because she was such a pill and then she saw a way out and she sneaked her over to me because I was new back there and she knew I could do hair good, but she she said I think you can handle her.

30:33 And so here comes Nanny to be my client and she picked up her hair.

30:38 Can you can you just fix that right there? Just it's a little bit and I don't like that. Can you change that?

30:46 And it was just on and on and on. But anyway, she was there under the dryer and I went out to go to the corner store to get my Coke and Mel's is out in front waiting to pick her up.

30:57 And he said he stuck his head out the window. If you said hey do I know you and I had my hair bleached White?

31:08 I don't think so and he start flirting with me and got my phone number and

31:14 That's how that happened to Manny could not believe it. She was way to support.

31:22 Is Dad running a long letter and tried to beg him out of it?

31:27 Went This was later when he asked me to marry him. But yeah, that wouldn't.

31:33 I just spit my young life going to be in trouble with everybody.

31:37 But anyways, so we dated for a while and he really liked Kevin.

31:42 He like the little baby and most of the boys I've dated. We're like get me out of here your girl with the baby and smells like him. And so that was a big plus for me.

31:53 And we always took Kevin.

31:59 Could not afford babysitters

32:06 So then you had my mom and

32:14 I had David and Mom.

32:18 Right. Yeah. I had David while we were in Austin and Mills are still in law school. So we have cabin when we go to law school. And then we had David exactly two years after Kevin was Kevin was exactly two years old birthdays are two days apart. So we had David right before he got out of law school. And then when we went to Corpus about three years stay with three years older than you three years later a headlight for head Blakely.

32:46 You've had a pretty pretty good life. So do you have any like big regrets?

32:55 Throughout your life if there's one thing you could change I would have gotten along better with my family.

33:02 I wish I'd had a little bit different personality when I was younger because it was pretty

33:08 You know, it's pretty real and the thing that cleared it up for me. We became great friends and really loved each other always loved him, but I just didn't like him very much and when I had my children my night when I got grandchildren everything changed and they liked me and I love them and the grandbabies totally adored them could never understand. Why did what was the matter with me that I didn't get along with my parents and what they changed, you know, they softened up.

33:39 If you have any advice for me, like if you had one piece of advice for me, what would it be?

33:47 Lighten up

34:04 You're the perfect totally perfect little girl and I love and adore you but I sometimes wish you would.

34:13 Sneak around or something.

34:24 I don't regret anything that I did like that even though it was just drove my parents insane. I didn't really do anything. I really wasn't wild. It was just that they were so narrow and

34:37 So

34:39 But yeah, I stick your foot in the toe in the water every once in awhile and test it out.

34:45 I mean like the idea of going to high school at basis is left.

34:53 Go to public school and get a life.

35:06 Aren't you glad you asked?

35:24 She fired me.

35:37 Your grandmother

35:44 I think you had like a pretty action-packed life. I have head. I've had a really had fun life. It's been fun for me. I stepped on a few toes along the way but I got over it or not.

35:59 I just kind of came out with that attitude, you know, it was like I don't know if it was cuz of older brothers or what but I had to scramble and scratch. I remember when the feminist thing started and I was totally shocked that women didn't think they were equal to men. That was like the strangest idea I've ever heard I was so equal and it took me awhile to catch on to what they were talking about men to watch over my life how it's been it's a real thing, you know women have been held back but

36:31 I Came Out Swinging with my brother the one that was my age was like I had to fight for my life with him and

36:43 So I felt I always felt but I was you no equal and could do as much and could.

36:51 I want any question.

36:53 But the truth is there was there was a lot of question and when I got out in the world and start working, I found that out.

37:01 And I got fired from a lot of jobs because of that attitude nearly every male boss. I ever had fired me really they just didn't like my attitude.

37:16 Mom wants to ask me a question.

37:19 Shepherd that

37:31 You're the only granddaughter are the only granddaughter. You're my only granddaughter. You're my favorite granddaughter and I moved to San Antonio because of you.

37:46 I never followed your mom around I never

37:53 They were all totally able to take care of themselves, but I just wanted to be around a little girl.

38:01 And I'm so so glad I did cuz I've gotten to watch every step of the way and you're so much fun to watch. You're so fabulous.

38:12 And I'm really really proud of you for not being like iFunny.

38:18 You're not being a troublemaker and not being you know like that.

38:23 Your mom would have been a crazy person.

38:34 But I apologize later.

38:38 Monitor to take care of

38:46 Well, thank you for doing this with us. You're welcome. Thank you for inviting me to I'm glad you wanted to ask me some stuff.