She sold everything so she could graduate her children — twenty years later, they arrived dressed in pilot uniforms and took her to a place she never imagined.

—Anywhere, as long as you study.

They moved into a small rented room near the market. They shared a bathroom with other families. The roof leaked when it rained.

Teresa washed other people’s clothes, cleaned houses in wealthier neighborhoods, continued selling tamales, and sometimes sewed school uniforms on commission.

Her hands became cracked. Her back began to ache every night.

But she never allowed her children to drop out of school.YEARS OF STRUGGLE AND SEPARATION