By Cindy Wooden
Adapted for Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley
Valeria, her husband and six of their seven children live in a colonia near Brownsville and have been building their house for the past four years with materials leftover from construction jobs he worked on; a growing stack of cinder blocks will soon become a large outdoor altar for a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Valeria loves turtles — that is clear. There is a turtle poster on the refrigerator, a turtle-framed mirror, a turtle holds the salt and pepper shakers, her many flowers bloom in turtle planters and little turtle bowls crawl up the supporting post of the kitchen counter.
The family could use some insulation for the kitchen and some materials to cover the roof where it leaks, Valeria said, but the family’s most intense prayers are for the couple’s 17-year-old daughter who was diagnosed with leukemia in February.
All the children were born in the United States. The two oldest were working in Arizona, but after the sister’s diagnosis one came home to work and help support the family. It is not enough, though, to cover food, electricity, water and the mortgage.
The children do not want Valeria and her husband to leave the house because they do not know who would take care of them if they were detained or deported. In fact, Valeria said, before she lets her husband drive the daughter to her doctors’ appointments, she checks the brake lights, turn signals and vehicle registration tag. She will not allow a small infraction to trigger the breakup of her family.
Reported by Cindy Wooden. The name and location in this story have been changed to protect the family’s privacy.
