People of Cypress Park: Guadalupe Redondo

Yo llevo 40 años viviendo aquí. Para mi pues todos los vecinos ... es como si fuéramos familia. Todos estamos bien. Nunca hay pleitos. Todo esta bien. Los pleitos se harán por acá, no sé. Ayer creo sí hubo un pleito ahí en la Sotomayor. Y dicen que como a las 4 entraron a uno de los Avenues a pegarle a uno de los C.P. boys. Que con un cuchillo y que era un corredero. Como a las 4 p.m. Entonces van a volver a comenzar.

Tengo tres hijos. El mas grande tiene 40 años. La otra tiene 39, el otro 38. Están bien, todos bien. No me dieron problemas. Porque yo los tuve ahí en el Divino Salvador, y luego mi hijo se fue a Cathedral. Y luego mis hijas se fueron al Sagrado Corazón. Y de ahí salieron, agarraron su carrerita. Y ahí estamos bien tranquilos.

Casi siempre tomo el bus porque pues mis hijas ya agarraron su camino. Mi esposo esté enfermo. No puede manejar. Nunca me dejó manejar, no me dejó manejar cuando yo estaba jóven. Que para que manejába?!?! Que quien sabe que ... Y ahora le digo mira como me ando arrastrando en el bus le digo, pensabas que tú todo el tiempo ibas a poder pero mira, el tiempo pasa y cambia.

Translation:

I've been living here for 40 years. For me my neighbors are like family. We're all doing fine. There's never any problems. Everything's good. Sometimes there's a few problems down the way, I don't know. Yesterday I heard there was a fight at Sotomayor. They said that around 4pm some of the Avenues (gang) went in to hit one of the C.P. boys---with a knife, and that everyone was running all over the place. So they're probably gonna start up again.

I have three kids. The oldest is 40. The other one's 39, and the youngest is 38. They're all doing well. They never gave me problems because I had them schooled at Divine Savior, and later my son went to Cathedral High and my daughters went to Sacred Heart. And they eventually graduated and got their little careers and that's that.

I almost always take the bus since my daughters are long gone. My husband is sick so he can't drive anymore. He never let me drive, he never taught me to drive when I was young. "What are you going to drive for!?!?!" he would say. Now I tell him look at me dragging myself all over town by bus, you thought you were always going to be able but look, time passes and things change.

The above interview is transcribed and edited from the following interview: