I moved to the Silver Ridge Apartments for a few reasons. The apartments were clean, affordable, and had staff that were available to fix things; something that I had always relied on Victor to do. In addition, there were indoor and outdoor pools, a sauna and an exercise room. Maria Elena was still little, so I needed to be close to her childcare facility. Silver Ridge was a good location and was across the street from a park.

Victor and I wanted to stay together, but we started going our separate ways for a variety of reasons. I was working and loving my job. Maria Elena had excellent childcare, and Victor was working with a new company that was challenging him. However, he still didn’t have a diploma and the future was murky. My father was turning down a job in Mexico at a prestigious university, and my brother had moved in with us. I was still fighting with depression and anxiety, and I felt like a new start would be healthy for all of us.

Noah’s Ark was a great start to preschool for Maria Elena. In addition to the outdoor exercise, we had her join the dance group where she wore her first leotard and tutu. She participated in the choir and sang in the Christmas presentation in the church adjacent to the childcare center. We were immensely proud of our little girl. She was quick to make friends and loved her new school.

When Maria Elena was a little over 2 years old, we took her to apply for the Read With Me Scholarship. Maria Elena followed a lady into her office for the diagnostic test. The lady who tested her came out of the office and began to tell us how impressed she was with Maria Elena. She said that decisions would be made by a committee, and they would let us know the outcome. A little over a week later, we were notified that Maria Elena would be the first Read With Me scholarship recipient to pay for an entire year of preschool. We were ecstatic. We enrolled her at Noah’s Ark.

Lorena was unable to continue caring for Maria Elena in her home, so I was able to switch her to home- based childcare with Amparito’s niece. Her niece had a daughter who was older than Maria Elena, but it was good for her to know what it would feel like to have older siblings. I was able to feel comfortable with the level of care and was able to continue working. Maria Elena was on her way to having three Spanish-speaking caregivers in a row! One day I was on my way to pick her up from childcare, and I was involved in an accident. My hood was crumpled up like an accordion; I was crying and trying to figure out how I would get to work and childcare

I had to get a rental car as my car was declared as a total loss. My Mercury Tracer was a total loss, and I had limited time to get a replacement. I went with my father to check for new cars. I had often heard that Japanese cars were reliable, so I decided on a Mitsubishi Lancer.

After a while, the principal at Desert Heights Elementary asked the Family Resource Center to find a new location as she needed the classroom for students. I tried to see if we could use the community complex, but it was not open to us relocating there. I had met a lady who was on the Board of Directors of the Hispano Chamber of Commerce who was also second-in-command at the Reno Housing Authority, so I gave her a call. She was receptive to the idea, and thought it would benefit the community well. I was fortunate to have the lead custodian at Desert Heights assist us in getting our things moved to our new office and set up our cubicles. Our center was renamed the Rose McGuire Family Resource Center in honor of the previous Principal of Desert Heights who was a major proponent of our services. I needed to put up banners on the windows so that people would be aware of our location.

I tried to get acquainted with my new job as quickly as I could. I enjoyed seeing the children at the school, and had to organize Neighborhood meetings to get insight into the needs of the community. The service area of my new job encompassed Stead, Cold Springs, and included a number of mobile home parks, a disparate income level and different levels of education. I learned a lot from the principal of the school, Debby Derry. I also attended meetings where all of the Family Resource Centers would meet to keep up to date on all of what was happening at each location. These meetings were organized by the director of the Family Resource Centers, Diana Haberland. Diana was very involved in Kiwanis, and she invited me to come to a meeting. The Kiwanis organized work to connect children with a bicycle and teach them to ride safely with a helmet.

The Family Resource Center would also partner with the Marine Corps Toys For Tots to provide children of the community with Christmas presents.

I was overwhelmed with all of the new information: grants, community organization, and balancing work and family. The weather in Stead was very cold and snowy and we would spend a lot of time indoors. My father, a diabetic, was often not well. I started to have panic attacks and saw a doctor. He prescribed me medication for anxiety and depression. I felt disgusted with myself. I was overweight and not providing my body with proper nutrition.

I started to feel a bit better and stupidly quit taking my medicine, something I had been warned not to do. Days later, I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest.

I started working for the Family Resource Center inside Desert Heights Elementary School located in Stead, Nevada. The director of the facility needed to take maternity leave, so I would replace her.

My co-worker, Amparo, was from Honduras, and she was overjoyed to find out that I spoke Spanish. Traveling from the apartment complex to work was very far, so we started looking for a place to live that was close to the new work site.

We found a house that was close to my new work site. Victor started working as an electrician for a local company and would wire residences.

Up until this point Victor had been able to stay home with Maria Elena, and we had also had our next-door neighbor look after her. They were from Peru and were the parents of a disabled son. Maria Elena would often come home with red string in a circle on her forehead. They believed it would help Maria Elena look up and forget hiccups and such. With both of us working, we needed find childcare.

For my daughter’s second birthday, we rented out a gazebo in a local park, and we invited all of our friends, co-workers, and neighbors to join us. Maria Elena was infatuated with Elmo at the time, so we decided to decorate her sheet cake with Elmo. I have a picture of her blowing out her Elmo candle while her granddad looks on with a smile. Maria Elena was overwhelmed with gifts. Time flew by, and it was a beautiful day.

The YMCA was Maria Elena’s exposure to soccer, T-ball, and basketball. While the other kids would easily be distracted, Maria Elena immediately showed aptitude for soccer.