Who hasn't looked at their parents' high school yearbook and just rolled on the floor laughing at the hair styles, goofy glasses and vintage clothes?

My sister Dorothy and I would laugh to tears when we paged through the 1950 Belen High School yearbook. My pretty mom Esther and her classmates looked like they were in their 40s with the pearl necklaces and "old man" suits. Everything was in black and white, so of course we thought everything was black and white back then.

Belen kids were funny enough, but my dad's 1945 San Diego Kearny High School yearbook was a bigger crackup. My Dad had hair! Gorgeous, wavy, blond hair. He had movie star looks. Seriously. He certainly didn't look like the dad we knew.

Dorothy and I always flipped to the page where a California girlfriend of my dad's had planted her big, red Angelina Jolie-like lip-prints next to her picture. We concurred that the Lady With The Lips wasn't nearly as pretty as our mom. Being little girls, we did wonder how we'd look if dad had married her instead.

Besides the dorky photos, the thing that always stuck with me when nosing through my dad's yearbook was the ambition quote he listed next to his photo: To Be A Big Shot. I've pondered what he meant by that.

He was born Prudencio Eduardo Sanchez, son of Nicholas and Fidelis Sanchez. The nuns at Belen's Saint Mary's Catholic School, managed to rename him Edward P. Sanchez because they couldn't pronounce his given name.

The youngest of eight, he came into the world on the eve of the Great Depression. Life challenged my dad right from the get-go. He acquired polio at the age of 7 and earlier than that he was diagnosed with epilepsy. The epilepsy was managed with medication and because of his bout with polio, he has walked with a limp his whole life.

Through some tough years, he kept up with my uncles Julio, Richard and Guillermo, who by the way, the nuns re-christined "Bill". That was until the early 1940s when the family packed up and moved to California.

Hundreds of New Mexico families moved west at the onset of World War II. Relatives on my mom's side moved to the L.A. area to find jobs at the large aircraft companies. My dad's family settled in San Diego for nearly three years. Two of my uncles joined the service, a third became a civil servant, settling in Carlsbad, Calif. My aunts, Ernestina, Eutimia and Tanis became teachers/principals and also spent time in the service.

There was no shortage of patriotism in those days. That's what made it particularly difficult for my dad when he couldn't join up like the vast majority of young people of his day. That was part of the Big Shot mentality. Flying or sailing off to fight for your country, wearing a spiffy uniform, qualifying for a coveted GI Bill - kids dreamed of those things.

All that was unattainable to my Dad. Granted, knew that many of those lucky enough to serve came home injured, or not at all.

After high school he went back and forth between New Mexico and California for a few years. He tells a story of when he and my uncles contemplated purchasing land in what is now downtown San Diego. They never quite got it together. (Had that been the case, I surely would have servants typing this for me now - but I digress.)

My parents met in downtown Belen when my Mom worked selling tickets at the movie theater. They courted, married and had six children. I have two children and find it incredible how my parents fed, clothed and transported the six of us around.

It wasn't easy. We're speaking of a family man who took vacation time from his maintenance job at Sandia Labs in order to work as a parking attendant at the New Mexico State Fair. Here's a man who taught by example by frequently taking classes at TVI in order to improve his skills. I spent part of my teenage years thinking my dad was cheapskate because he held on to dumpy cars and other worn-out yet usable things. Today, because of the sacrifices of my parents, I live a comfortable life, and yes, also hang onto at least one dumpy vehicle at a time.

Through the years of "a-ha" moments, I've grown to understand how tough things were for people in that era. I realize what a strong and amazing man my dad is.

As an older guy, assisted living has always appealed to my dad. Today, because of physical limitations, the timing is right for him to move into one of those kinds of facilities. Being the social creature he is, he'll flourish in whichever location in Albuquerque is lucky enough to have him.

Three years ago he fell after water therapy at a UNM swimming pool. After a surgery, he was sent to a rehabilitation facility just four days before a huge Valentine's Day celebration was held. In that short time my dad had made enough friends and fans to be named the King Valentine. He received a fancy crown and even some quite nice parting gifts.

To Be A Big Shot. He may not have been a mighty landowner, worn a military uniform or hung with the likes of Frank and Sammy and the other Rats in the Pack - but Edward Prudencio Sanchez did manage to become a Big Shot. He makes his grateful family very proud.

Dolores Sanchez Badillo attended schools on Albuquerque's West Side and graduated from Sandia High School. A University of New Mexico graduate, she works as an anchor at a television station in Temecula, Calif., and lives with her husband Michael and sons Dominic and Vincent in Murrieta, Calif.