Somewhere on her slightly cluttered desktop, Barbara Silva has a
list over two type-written pages long. It’s not a to-do list, an
extraordinarily long shopping list, or even a list of contact
information for the tenants of the apartment building she and her
husband manage.
Hollister – Somewhere on her slightly cluttered desktop, Barbara Silva has a list over two type-written pages long. It’s not a to-do list, an extraordinarily long shopping list, or even a list of contact information for the tenants of the apartment building she and her husband manage.
It’s a list of all her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. All 99 of them. Her 50th great grandson was born earlier this month, making it an even 100, but he’s not on the list yet.
“I love having a big family,” says Silva, who has seven children, 22 grandchildren, 50 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandson. “They get together all the time.”
Last summer, in fact, Silva went to the first Silva/Saldivia (her husband Andrew’s father changed his last name from Saldivia to Silva for professional reasons when he was a young man boxing in San Jose) family reunion in Lodi.
“It’s really great seeing all the people you haven’t gotten to see in so long,” Silva says of the reunion.
Even though her large family is spread up and down the West Coast, Silva still has time to see plenty of it, especially her great-grandkids, who all play sports.
“It seems like we’re always at a soccer game or a baseball game or a football game,” she says, “but we love watching them.”
It was even family that got Silva involved with the group she has been with since her newlywed days. Barbara married Andrew Silva in 1946. Andrew, a war veteran, had lots of friends in the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), so he and Barbara joined. Barbara still works with the VFW today, helping with fundraisers for almost any charity that needs their help. The VFW does barbecues and other fund-raisers for cancer, the disabled, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, hospitals – “everything,” according to Silva.
Today, Barbara and Andrew manage the Nash Street Apartments, where they have lived since 1992. Their youngest daughter, Toni, is currently living with them in their apartment, although she hasn’t always.
But when you have as much family as Silva does, odds are you’ll never be too far from the ones you love.
“If anything happens to (Joe) or me, they’re here for us,” Silva says.
Jessica Quandt is a staff writer for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
