Photo By Lance Cpl. Norman Eckles | Aurelia Garcia, aka Mona, a food service worker at the Family Restaurant on Marine...... read more read more
MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. - Mother’s Day is right around the corner - a day dedicated to recognizing the sacrifices and contributions made by mothers around the world. Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., has a woman on base who has gone above and beyond for her own children, and for the Marines on the installation.
MCLB Barstow is one of the few Marine Corps bases where Marines do not dine at a chow hall. Instead they eat at the Family Restaurant. It is here, where people are greeted by an energetic and outgoing Aurelia ‘Mona’ Garcia, a Newberry Springs, Calif., native who is a food service worker at the base restaurant, and a single mother of five children.
Garcia said, ever since she was little, she strived to do her best in school and stayed out of trouble. She woke up every day and went to school and then would come home and do her homework.
“I had really good grades when I was in school and I never got into trouble,” said the Silver Valley High School graduate.
Before working on base, Garcia worked at Dairy Queen and Del Taco. She moved to Carson City, Nev., when she met the father of her children for a change of scenery.
She lived there for four years and they were the most painful years of her life, explained Garcia.
“My ex-boyfriend was really abusive,” she said. “He used to hit me in front of my children and made me feel like I couldn’t do anything. One time he was cleaning his shotgun, and I was sitting across from him. I was looking at the dog, and I heard a loud bang and the dog went flying. I asked him if he hit the dog. He didn’t say anything. Then I stood up and was instantly light headed. I looked down at my arm and realized what happened … it was bleeding. He shot me in my left arm while I was six months pregnant.”
Garcia was much more concerned with her expected son’s health and safety than she was her own.
She further explained that her ex-boyfriend said it was an accident, so she stayed with him.
“I was young and wanted my children to know their father,” said Garcia. “I thought one day he would change, but he never did. I went through 13 years of abuse before I realized he wasn’t going to change. So, I told myself, ‘I’m done.'”
With the motivation to give her children the best life possible, she endured years of hardships to make a home for herself and her children.
“I didn’t want my kids to grow up thinking it was okay to hit women,” said Garcia. “So, I took my children out of that environment and moved back to Newberry Springs. If you are in an abusive relationship, the only thing I can say is get out of it as soon as you can.”
As a single parent, Garcia wakes up every morning and gets her children ready for school, as one gets ready for high school, the youngest gets ready for preschool. After a full day of work, she goes home to her children and cares for them and prepares for the next day.
While Garcia is at work, she gives 100 percent in everything she does and works well with the customers, said Diane Yslas, service supervisor at the Family Restaurant on MCLB Barstow.
“She comes in to work with a smile on her face every day,” said Yslas. “She greets the customers as they come in, as well as prepares food for the rest of the day.”
She plans on continuing her career in food service. It’s how she started and she loves doing it. Garcia further explained, she enjoys talking to customers, working with fellow employees and caring for Marines.
“We have never had a problem with Mona,” said Yslas. “She loves what she does.”
Her motivation is her children. Every day at work, she tries her best for them, she further explained.
“I’m all my children have and that’s why I work so hard,” said Garcia. “I do what I do to take care of my kids. They are my motivation because I have to provide for them. Being a single mother with five children isn’t easy but it’s worth more than you can imagine.”
Garcia said when she is home with her children, they tell her she is mommy and daddy and appreciate everything she does for them.
“My mom does a lot for us,” said Esiquio Hernandez, Garcia’s oldest son. “Sometimes it seems like she is jumping through hoops for us.”
She instills morals into her children, so they can make the right choices in life.
My mom taught me a lot of morals, such as don’t do drugs, be a good person and have a good heart. However, most importantly she has taught me not to hit women, said Hernandez.
She is a wonderful, caring mother, expressed Hernandez.
When her children need her the most, she doesn’t miss a beat and is right there to guide them in the right direction, he added.
“She is everything a person can want in a mom,” said Hernandez. “She is a strong person and a good person to talk to.”
Garcia expressed that her children are her first priority and she will do what she has to do as a mother to take care of them.
Women like Garcia, who have strong hearts and the willpower to keep pushing through trials and tribulations for their children, make Mother’s Day a holiday worth celebrating.
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.25.2013 14:26 |
| Story ID: | 105833 |
| Location: | BARSTOW, CA, US |
| Hometown: | NEWBERRY SPRINGS, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 152 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A Mother’s love for her children, by LCpl Norman Eckles, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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