Born Abroad
Characters
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Characters in this story
- Dinorah Liddiard LeBaron — A life-spanning memoir heroine shaped by family, work, and the wide-open landscapes of Chihuahua.
Story transcript
Dinorah Liddiard LeBaron: The places where we are born shape us, but they do not define the limits of who we can become.
Dinorah Liddiard LeBaron: I was born on April fourth, nineteen seventy, in Colonia LeBaron, a small community in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Dinorah Liddiard LeBaron: My earliest memories are rooted in the wide-open landscapes of northern Chihuahua.
Dinorah Liddiard LeBaron: When I was four, my father bought Rancho La Merced, near Colonia LeBaron. That ranch became our new home.
Dinorah Liddiard LeBaron: We had no electricity or running water. To get drinking water, we pulled a bucket from the well with a rope.
Dinorah Liddiard LeBaron: La Merced was beautiful to me. It was far from everything, but its peace filled my heart. As the second oldest, I learned to help with everything.
Dinorah Liddiard LeBaron: Family was always coming and going. With my grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, and nine children, more than twenty people shared our home.
Dinorah Liddiard LeBaron: There was always something to cook, wash, clean, or repair. Visitors were welcomed with food, and after three days, they became part of the workforce.
Dinorah Liddiard LeBaron: We worked fast because the faster we finished, the faster we could play. We ran through the ditches, cornfields, wheat, and alfalfa.
Dinorah Liddiard LeBaron: Even after electricity arrived, the washing machine had rollers that could grab your fingers. We all knew to be careful.
Dinorah Liddiard LeBaron: My cousin Juan told Susana, “Go ahead and put your hand in there. It tickles.” She believed him.
Dinorah Liddiard LeBaron: The machine grabbed her hand, and she screamed. Juan was punished, but even now, I can laugh when I remember it.