Maria y Carlos

Maria: We’ve been living here one year. We moved from Chicago because it was more economical than living in the city. The best part has been the amount of space we have; the house and the yard.

Carlos: We looked at a lot of different places, but we found somewhere we really felt we could make our home. This house is just what we had in mind when we were looking, and the neighborhood was calm.

And how has the experience of your first year been?

Maria: One thing I’d like to see in the community is better enforcement of the law. Someone once fired a gun at the house. We called the police and filed a report, but now they say there’s no record of it.

Carlos: Within six months of us moving in, we already considered leaving.

Maria: But we have very good neighbors, here.

How would your 11 and 17-year old daughters describe you?

Maria: Never give up, and always trying to be and do better.

Carlos: That, and always working to have a happy family.

Maria: But the way I would describe my husband is that he always finds the right words to keep us moving forward– and if there’s a problem, he finds a solution. He has a very big heart.

What is the biggest obstacle you’ve overcome?

Carlos: I have a couple. One is that I am cancer-free. It has been six years.

The two of you have a bond, a partnership, that’s very clear to see. Was it always as strong as it is now, or did the cancer impact or change things?

Carlos: It is one of the things that has united us the most, but she is like that naturally. Very human. She’s the kind of person who would give her last meal to someone.

What’s your greatest fear?

Maria: To not be able to help people. A lot of people depend on me.

Carlos: It’s not a big fear, and it’s not that it’s going to happen, but I do fear not being able to see my mom again. It has been twenty years. She lives in Mexico.

Maria: We’d like to bring her here, but she’s elderly, so we’re working on getting him there to see her.

This conversation has been edited and condensed.