Sheila Davis Martinez

At some point in January 1963, a gypsy drifted through town and sprinkled wanderlust dust into the air. I took a deep breath and was hooked! I couldn't get out of Childress fast enough. Of course, I graduated, but showing up for the ceremony took a lot of curiosity...was I really going to graduate?? Mentally, I was gone from my life in Childress months before we graduated.

That summer, I went to school at Amarillo Jr College, then came back home for a few days before heading out to fulfill my dream of becoming a doctor at the University of Texas in Austin. There were probably a thousand schools that would have been a better pick for me, but my heart was set on UT ever since the 3rd grade when I heard Jimmy Wilcoxson talking about their great football team. Like a football team was going to make or break me! LOL! Jimmy, this is all your fault! I thought he was the smartest boy in school until I realized it was really JoeDon.

I wish I could say that I went to school, made good grades, graduated and went to Medical school. The real story is that I went to UT, got real stupid, got pregnant, then got married.

Life has a way of kicking you in the butt to get your attention. The marriage lasted long enough for me to have 2 children to raise. Barry and his family have been a strong part of my life and I am eternally grateful for their open arms and generosity. Sandra and Robin came from that marriage.

Before we divorced in 69, Barry and I moved to San Antonio which is where I met Webb Wilcox a couple of years later. The kids and I moved to Port Aransas to run a hotel on the beach in the summer of 72. Webb followed, asking me to marry him. We married in 73.

Good times. We lived on the beach for several years, then eventually put our shoes back on and moved back to civilization. I have to tell you, it was hard to learn to wear shoes again. I loved living on the beach.

While Webb and I were trying to raise my two older children to be decent citizens, we started with our second family...Jessica, Ben and Kayte....all born within 2 years of each other. Talk about insanity! LOL...It has been a fun ride and I wouldn't trade one second of it for any other choice that I might have had.

Webb and I divorced after 15 years of marital bliss. Since then, I have lived in Wimberley, TX, San Marcos TX and Austin..with a very brief stint in Dallas working for a fashion designer. At some point in this time frame, I went back to school to study fashion design/entreprenurial business management. One year and I was done with school...forever. Not done with learning, but done with that mode of education.

I would like to say that I own my own business, but to be honest, it owns me. For the last 10 years I have worked as a seamstress/fashion designer doing bridal designs and alterations, exotic dancewear, costuming, anything I could draw, cut and get under that sewing machine needle. Since I have a difficulty with idle time, I generally pair my sewing business with other types of income. I have been a barmaid, bartender, house mom for strip clubs, lingerie retail, and the school district lets me drive a school bus! Whoa..what is up with that!!?

Right now, I am delivering pizza...fun job, working in a boutique in one of the clubs, and also driving a school bus for Lake Travis ISD. I also have a little business making/selling soaps, lotions and candles.

My wonderful children are Sandra Foglia who lives in San Marcos with her 3 boys, Andrew, Luke and Francis, ages 11, 16, 20. Sandra works for Texas State University in the Dance Department. All of the boys are in school. Andrew at TX STate, Luke is in HS and Fran in in MS.

Robin Knight lives in Phoenix, is married to Lili. Robin is in his last 5 months of Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency. Lili is a med transcriptionist. They do lots of things like marathons, Boston Terrier rescue shelter adoptive parents, and are trying to adopt a child from China.

Jessica Wilcox has 2 boys, Caleb 12, Aaron 4, lives out here in Lakeway. She is in her last rotation of nursing school. She is a great kid.

Ben lives out here in Lakeway, too. He works as a cook for one of the Irish Sport Pubs in town.

Kayte, my youngest is in school at Texas State studying nutrition. She worked for Continental Airlines as a flight attendant before 9-11, then decided that college was a better path.

Well, that's all folks. Some more of the good, bad and not so ugly. For the record, I love Childress and am very thankful that it was my home for so many years. Great place to learn about life. Great friends.