Susana (Andrews) Kwock

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Biography

I was born in 1984 on Ascension Thursday at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Indiana. My mother was a nurse at the hospital and my father was a chiropractor in Muncie. I was the first child born to them about a year after they were married.

I was baptized during the summer of 1984 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Muncie, Indiana. My parents attended that church throughout their time living in the Muncie area. My godmother was my Aunt Kathleen. She is my dad's sister. My godfather was Uncle Bob, my Aunt Kathleen's husband. They were chosen because they lived relatively close to us and were practicing Catholics. My Uncle Bob was a colonel in the US Air Force and was stationed in Ohio at the time of my Baptism.

My mom told me about church picnics that St. Mary's would have during the summers. She said I was stung by a bee at one of them. Good thing I don't remember that! I am sadder about not remembering the pig that they would let loose to run through the churchyard.

My sister was born when I was two. We were living in Yorktown, Indiana right outside of Muncie at the time. My father was still working as a chiropractor in Muncie, Indiana. My mother took a break from nursing to care for me (and then my sister) after I was born.

My sister was born at home. I believe I have a memory after her birth of going into my parents' bedroom and seeing my mom in bed holding my baby sister. My mom turns to me and tells me my sister's name. My mom said that could be true when I told her the story after she asked me what was my earliest memory.

My mom also told me about the trip to Disney World that my family took when I was two-years-old. She said we almost missed our plane to Florida because we were late and my dad still had to park the car. We must have stayed at my Grandma's house in West Palm Beach, Florida because there is a photo of me sitting on the couch kissing my baby sister at Grandma's Florida house.

We probably walked to the beach since my grandma lives within walking distance of the Atlantic Ocean. We must have also went to Disney World because there are photos of my dad, my mom, my baby sister, and me when I was two-years-old at the theme park. It must have been December because we were standing in front of some Christmas trees.

We must have also gone to the Indianapolis Children's Museum when I was young because there are photos of my sister and me playing in the water toy room there.

At four years of age, my family moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. My father had grown up in Pittsfield. He also had financial troubles at his chiropractic practice due to an injury that made it hard for him to work, so he filed bankruptcy. Then he moved his growing family from Indiana to Massachusetts.

My earliest memory of my grandparents was when we went to Massachusetts. I remember hiding behind my dad's legs. We moved with a large moving truck to Massachusetts.

Then my mom and my grandma had a huge fight. We were supposed to live in my grandparents' house, but my grandma wanted my pregnant mother to sleep in a tent in their backyard. I remember sitting on the steps in my grandparents' house while Grandma yelled from over the banister above while my mom screamed back from below.

My mom took my sister and me to St. Charles Church in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The priest there helped us to get into the local homeless shelter. I remember that there were bunk beds in our room for my sister and me. My mom had a bigger bed. We took turns with the people in the group home doing chores.

My mom ended up getting sick and was in the hospital for several days. My dad took my sister and me to my grandparents' house while my mom was in the hospital to celebrate my sister's second birthday. My sister received finger paints as a present, but my grandma had someone take them away from me when I tried to open them to teach my sister how to paint.

A couple of months later, my first brother was born. We had moved into an apartment on the top floor in what we found out later was not a good part of town. My mom was reading my sister and me a bedtime story when she had to go use the bathroom. When she came out of the bathroom, she said that the baby was coming. My sister and I were there as the midwife delivered my brother.

My mom tried to send me to preschool, but I didn't like it. I cried a lot, so my mom didn't make me continue going to it. All I remember from it is the other children playing Farmer in the Dell while I cried on the side.

I thought because I got out of going to preschool, I could get out of going to kindergarten. I thought wrong. I remember arguing the summer before kindergarten with my mom about it. She won the fight and I started kindergarten the fall of 1989 at Sacred Heart Elementary School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. My parents decide to send me to a Catholic school because they both attended Catholic grade schools and a priest said in his homily that anyone can afford a Catholic education.

I of course didn't like having to go to kindergarten any more than preschool. Kindergarten thankfully was only a half of a day back then. The following year they changed it to full day, so the rest of my siblings had to go to kindergarten all day.

I felt I was being punished. I didn't understand why my sister got to stay home with my baby brother, but I had to go off to school. It took me a couple of years to adjust to going to school and to actually enjoy it.

Sources

• First-hand information. Entered by Susana Andrews at registration.