This is Boris Solis interviewing Sharon Holloman on June 22, 2016 at 9:20
a.m. for the Creative Push project. OK, so we know a little bit about your
story already. You, um, met your first husband at a young age. Yes, 16.
Well, actually 15 when I met him and got pregnant and had to drop out of
school and uh 3 months after we were married, he left, never seen him
again. So you were 3 months pregnant. I was 4 months pregnant when then 3
months later he left, so he never saw his child. Wow, what were you, um,
going through emotionally? Did you have family there? I, my mom and dad
was real good with me. They helped me out a lot, um.
They that will all be picked up. Oh, they uh stood by whatever I decided
to do of course back then you couldn't go to school. You had to drop out.
So I dropped out. I had Warren and then I took a correspondence class,
took, uh, summer school, and was able to graduate with my class, which I
thought was quite good because I was working plus going to school and
raising a little. Baby, but my mom and dad helped a lot. Did you live at
home with your parents? No, I had a little apartment. Wow, you were really
mature at 16. Yes. So, um, did your mom or your family members talk to you
about the process of pregnancy and birth, or were you prepared? Um,
actually, everybody told me, oh, it hurts so bad and Like I told you. I
kept waiting for it to hurt, you know, really hurt, and it never did. It
was uncomfortable. I have to say that, but uh. I didn't find, of course, I
can take a lot of pain. My pain tolerance is pretty high. So, it was fine.
How was your pregnancy? Um, went to the doctor right away, and it was
fine. I didn't have any problems. Of course, right at the end swelling,
you know, your legs swell and such, but I didn't have any problems, uh,
about, uh.
I tried to nurse and uh poor little guy almost starved to death because
there was nothing really coming out. So we fixed that, he went on formula.
Um, But other than that, it's. It was tough. To do that. So how old was
your son when you met your second husband? Uh, Warren was, uh, probably 18
months. And uh Carl and I got together. I was with him just long enough to
have 2 kids. And left Jimmy was very abusive.
Uh, matter of fact, his mother. took me down to my parents in Blythe. They
had moved there from needles and uh She loaded me and the kids up and took
us down and I got out from under him. What, um, what was the circumstance
that you met him under?
I was born and raised in needles and so was he, and it was just, we just
got together eventually.
When he wasn't drinking, it was a real nice guy, but when he was drinking
it was very abusive.
Was he um was he good with your baby? Was that part of the draw?
Not really, he wasn't much of a father figure.
So, um, so you were basically like rescued from this terrible situation
and um you you were starting a new life basically um but to backtrack a
little bit, so when you were married, uh, were you trying to get pregnant
? No. I never tried to get pregnant. I was fertile myrtle, you know, just.
Just happened. Was there anything memorable about your pregnancy or the
delivery? Did you, um, deliver in hospital, in the hospital, all four of
them? Did you take any sort of medication? No.
So, just my vitamins for, you know, pregnancy vitamins, but I never took,
uh, never had the block. I never had uh shots or anything like that, just
was all natural. So, um, did you have any, take any classes or anything?
How did you cope with the pain?
I have a high pain tolerance. Did you do any like breathing techniques or
walk around or? Um not really.
Did your water break in the hospital or at home? No, at home. Yeah. I, I
always waited until it broke and then I knew better hurry up and get down
there. You know it's actually really unusual for a woman's water to
spontaneously break. You actually seemed like you had a body made for
giving birth. Yes, I do have a body for birth. Um, OK, so you're starting
your new life and you have 3 young children now. Are you working? How are
you making that happen? Uh, yeah, I was a waitress, um. Of course, you
know, that's the easiest thing to be when you're raising kids as a
waitress because you can always get a job. So I did that and then I was
real lucky after I had my last child. That I applied for a job with the
Riverside County Assessor's office and I got the job. So I always had the
good job for insurance for the kids, but I always worked 2 and 3 other
jobs.
You know, so it could have clothes, extra money for stuff, yeah. So then,
um, let's talk about your 4th child. So what was the circumstances? OK, uh
, Scott, my 4th child, he, uh, It was really a surprise because Jimmy had
like uh maybe a 7% chance of fathering a child.
And
Fertile myrtle here. We had a baby. He didn't think it was his. So, uh,
for a long, long time. He would not acknowledge Scott and uh.
Then he ended up having twin boys that died at birth. So all of a sudden
he goes, he calls me out of the blue one day and says, Sharon, my mom says
you're having trouble with Scott, and I go, And What? Well, then he told
me his story that he had uh twin boys that had died at birth and that he
thought maybe Scott was his.
Down to the mole on his back, yes, it was his. So did they, um, meet? Did
he ever? Yes, uh, Scott went to stay when he was about 6 years old. He
went to stay with uh Jimmy and his wife for a summer, and of course his
stepmother did not really want him around, so that didn't pan out. And, uh
, Scott's dad just recently died.
But we all got together about 4 years ago and had a good discussion.
Everything was pretty good. So when you reflect back on your experiences
, what are, what are your thoughts? Well, I have to say I do not regret.
Any of it. There's a couple things I would have changed along the way. But
had I not experienced what I experienced, I would not have my four good
children. And grandkids and great grandson. So basically, it was tough.
I'm not gonna say it wasn't tough because it was.
But up until 1972, I had my parents and then they both died. And uh I've
always been very lucky. I've had a lot of friends.
Not so much financially, but. Just there to help me if I needed something.
Never got child support for any of them.
Can you talk about um how your relationship with your boys, how they feel
about you and they love me very much. They call me every day. Now, Warren
in Oklahoma, he doesn't call every day, but uh Scott calls me every
morning to make sure I'm OK. KT, he works in Alaska. He calls.
They uh really do respect me. Do they understand what they understand
exactly what I went through.
They were raised by babysitters basically because I had to work so much.
But All in all, and I'll be 71 in August. All in all, it's been a good
ride.
Done. You're awesome. That is perfect. Do you have anything else you wanna
add? No, I, I'm, I'm good.