Although born in Coleman Texas, my dad grew up in Guatemala.  His father had travelled to Guatemala from Texas working on railroads to make money for university and met my dad's mother (my grandmother) there.  She was the daughter of a Canadian bridge engineer and British ship Captain's daughter who had settled in Guatemala City (GC).  Tragically my grandfather died from tuberculosis  when my dad was 3 and his mother and her family raised my dad and his sister, my Aunt Peggy in GC.  When my dad was 13, his two grandmothers by slow-moving letters back and forth from Texas decided that it would be best for my dad to move to Texas to live.  This was during WW2, life was very hard for the family in GC.  So without any say in the matter , and as he described it very dramatically, my Dad was sent on his own to Texas.  His journey on the airplane involved several fuel stops and also blacked out windows so it wouldn't be shot by German U-Boats which  were in the Gulf.  They finally landed safely up in Houston, where he had to make his way to the train station  and catch a train to Lampasas, Texas where he lived with Mammy and Pappy - his father's twin brother and his wife.  He went to high school there, then Rice University on a scholarship where he met my mother.  The briefcase in this photo is the one he used for his journey to Texas when he was 13.  It was the only thing he took with him.  His initials are on it DW - Dick Wilson.

– Kathy Luck

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant