1 of 24 It happened five years ago…the untold stories
Our house was a one story home, but it was home. My bedroom was towards the back and it faced an immense pecan tree. It felt as if the Tree had been there since the beginning of time with its branches ascending to the sky. Every autumn, my brother and I would gather the fallen pecans, crack them open and patiently pick out the halves.
It was now May and it was beginning to get hot as we were enjoying the last bits of spring. Because it was warming up, my grandfather asked me to help out with squeezing lemons for a refreshing ice cold lemonade. Later on, for some reason, I feel asleep as I was watching TV in the living room.
When I awoke the following day, I knew that something was wrong. My Dad was sitting at the table and it all felt very weird. He normally came in the room with a happy smile on his face, but for him to be there that morning with sadness reflecting all over his face was just unusual. As he walked away from the table, I asked him what was wrong. The look on his and my mother’s face told me that whatever the reason was, it wasn’t a good one. Dad walked over and sat down on the couch beside me. My Mom started crying and left the room. Seeing her cry made me start to cry too. I think this made it even harder for my Dad to tell me what was going on. He said that we were going to have to move and that we didn’t have a choice. I felt absolutely lost. I wondered how could this be? …and why? Shortly after, my Dad was taken to court where our home was taken. I just couldn’t comprehend it. This neighborhood is where I had grown up my entire life and now we were being kicked out by Dallas ISD. Rumors were that the district wanted to build a new O.M. Roberts elementary. My Mom kept repeating the phrase “but, they just spent millions on remodeling O.M. Roberts” over and over as she cried every night. I was living a bad dream and asked myself why do I keep having the same repeating dream? My parents were over whelmed with so much stress over the outcome, because Dallas ISD didn’t compensate enough for another house. The district just didn’t care. I wish people would understand the importance of restoring instead of destroying.
We would move from the house that I grew up in, away from my friends, and possibly out of the City. Today, we live in an apartment, my parents couldn’t afford to buy another house. I’m a senior and remember that house and neighborhood. We drove by to discover that the house was torn down and the ground it stood upon plowed over along with that old pecan tree. In my imagination, I can still see the outline of its structure. I wish with all my heart that the district would of listened to my Dad and to all the others that didn’t want to sell.
Sadly, countless lives have been changed dramatically on account of one single decision. I’ve realized that communities don’t last forever or that what was yours may be taken away from you in a blink of an eye from an entity like Dallas ISD.