Clovis Senior in the Spotlight: Sukhminder Virk

My name is Sukhminder Virk. I was born in 1931 in India. My parents and grandparents lived in a small city in Punjab. My momma had four children, two boys and two girls. My father was a farmer and owned a lot of land. He hired many people to work on the farm.

My mother was a housewife. She cooked for all the family three times a day. She washed clothes, cleaned the house and took care of all the family. My parents passed away when I was 3 years old. We then lived in my uncle’s house. My aunt had three children. I studied Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi at home because my grandfather and my uncle didn’t allow girls and women to go outside. I didn’t study English in India. When I came to the United States in 1997 I studied English at Clovis Adult School.

I married on Nov. 20, 1949. I have an arranged marriage. We didn’t know each other. My husband was an officer in the Indian army. Army life is very different. We would go to movies every Sunday, to picnics, played bingo on Saturday and go to parties and dances in the Army Club. My husband’s hobbies are reading and traveling. He is retired now.

We moved to Poona in 1958. Our daughter Pinky was born in 1959. We moved again to the city of Pathankot. My son Dave was born in 1962. My son came to the United States in 1982. He worked many hours and saved money. After five years he bought his own business. Some years later he bought other properties. He was a rich man. He passed away in 2009. My son was married. He had two sons. My daughter-in-law takes care of the properties and family now. She is a very hard worker. I miss my son every day. He loved me too much.

My daughter is married. She has two children and one grandchild. She has her own business. I have four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. I live with my family. I love my family. My family and I have traveled to Canada two times. I have traveled many times to India. My hobbies are reading, cleaning and knitting.

I am thankful to Clovis Senior Activity Center staff members. I do respect them and love them. They are very nice and very helpful. I like Clovis Senior Activity Center very much.

This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 12:39 PM with the headline "Clovis Senior in the Spotlight: Sukhminder Virk."