They initially struggled due to inexperience and unqualification. Nonetheless, Elisa ended up working odd jobs. While going to college was never a goal for her, she suddenly became envious of people her age who were. “Be smart, be logical, and always think ahead. You are never too well-off to be lazy,” she told me. Working hard taught her how to be responsible, conscientious, and tough. Even today, she reflects her lessons onto her daughters and grandchildren by teaching us the same values.
Eventually, Elisa gained financial stability and built a family of her own. This included her husband and four daughters. They relocated to Jersey City, while she supported the family as a supervisor for a clothing company in New York. This lead to her greatest accomplishment; having all of her children graduate college. My mother and my aunts were the first in the family to do so. Since her children no longer needed her and she was growing older, my lola moved to Florida and remarried. She jokingly said, “it seems that most of my life journey just involved a lot of