Although her past wasn't the best, the future will be a whole different story. The past is filled with struggles and a lot of sadness. A time when she didn’t feel like doing anything and a time when she felt nothing is worth it anymore. But that doesn’t matter anymore, the past stays in the past and it’s the future that matters now. As I walked through the front door, I announce to her, “ It’s time to remember some things about the pass, of course, if you don’t mind.” She said, “ Of course mija, thats not a problem. Let’s begin.”

I started off by asking, “ So tell me, what were some difficult obstacles that you went through your childhood.” She looked up to the roof to think back because of course she might not remember as well. She turned back at me and replied, “ One of the hardest thing as a youngster was that we didn’t have a lot of money. The only money we had was wasted to buy food and sometimes we had enough to buy clothes and shoes, but that was rare.” I asked, “ Was there any other hard obstacles that you went through?” She said, “ Yes, I wasn’t allowed to go party with my friends or with anyone. My parents were literally strict. They weren’t the type of parents that would let you go out often. “ She also added, “ The last thing I could tell you was that it sucked being the oldest because her parents made her go to work while everyone else stayed at home.” She looked kinda angry while she answered by the fact that she was thinking it wasn’t fair. She stood up and went to her cabinet and took out some pictures that were taken of her in her job and the friends she had made there.

She didn’t even know what the American Dream meant. When it did come in asking about her American Dream she looked at me with confusion and her eyes were open as wide as a lemur. “ What’s an American Dream?”, she said confused. I honestly couldn't believe she didn’t know what her American Dream was. So I gave her an example of what an American dream can be and after she heard my example, she was able to answer. She said nervously, “ My American Dream would be to have my proper house. A house where I could do anything to it, where I could live with my family and no one else.” Once I was out of questions that had to do with the American Dream, I moved on to the school portion. I was curious about why she had stopped going to school and if she wanted to go back. When I did ask her, she said quietly, “ I didn't finish to school because honestly, I didn’t like it, I truly disliked it. School wasn’t my thing at all. But if I would ever decide to go back to school, I want to study to be a nurse.”

When coming to the saddest thing that has ever happened to her actually effect me. I finally asked her that what was the saddest thing that has ever happened to her. She said sadly, “ The saddest thing that has ever happened to me was the death of my parents. My father’s death happened all of a sudden. You could actually say that his death was an accident. He went riding in the Hansen Dam park and it was on a rainy day and they say that the horse could of spooked out and he fell. He actually fell into the big river there, and he didn’t know how to swim. My father drowned and the river was running so it took him.” She paused for a while and a tear started to come out. She started to say, “ He was missing for an entire week and we kept looking and looking for him. Luckily we found him. He was found thanks to his spur. The spurs and the sun connected and something shined. Until they dug there they found him.” When I heard the story, I was shocked. I never knew how my grandpa had died until that day. I asked about my grandma. She said, “ Your grandma died of cancer. She fought threw it until she was tired. You were actually in Mexico when she was already in the bed. She was just waiting for you to get home so she can see you for once more before she left. Once you locked up at home the first thing you did, was run to her room. The next day she woke up dead in her room.” As she was telling me this I was crying. “ I remember that every time you were up, you went running to her room and started knocking on her door. And you would just say grandma.”, she said. More tears were coming out of her eyes and my face was also filled with tears. I didn’t want her to cry anymore so I changed the questioned up. We stopped talking about the sad things and we started talking about the good stuff that has ever happened to her. She said, “ The best thing that has ever happened to me what to give birth to my four children. Of course your cousins. There names are Daniel, Maria, Angel, and Araceli. Umm Daniel has another dad, hes not my husbands son. Maria, Angel and Araceli are my husbands, sons and daughters.”

She didn’t know if she had any great plans coming up. She was thinking for a moment. She said, “ Yes I have my youngest daughters fifteen. I’m very excited because of my oldest daughter, we made her a fifteen too and it came out good. We had a lot of fun, so I’m hoping my youngest daughter fifteen comes out good as well” After we discussed her plans for the future, we asked her that what was the biggest impact on her life. She said, “ The biggest impact was when I came to Los Angeles. I knew everything was going to be different. And yes, when I arrived here I was able to find a job, which was easier to find here because in Mexico it’s hard to find one.”

As she finished her last question, I thanked her for her time and she was happy to help me out. Once I was out of her room, I realized that I didn’t know as much a I thought I knew about my aunt. The story about my grandparents’ death was something that I never knew about. I thought I knew a lot about my aunt for the reason that we’re so close, but I never bother to ask her anything until this day.