Arrival and First Days

February 5th. She remembers it clearly. It was a frigid day, with thick layers of powdered snow forming on the ground. She had never seen such a thing before, and seeing the airport covered in white was surprising to her. The difference even between the area just outside of JFK and her home country of Panama astounded her. Even the bare trees that surrounded the airport took her breath away. Trees in Panama always had bold, intricately patterned, green leaves, yet the trees she was seeing had nothing on them. Her first thought was that they had been badly burnt, having no idea that trees went through such a process in the Northeast. Her ability to communicate was minimal.

"I could say mom, dad, good morning, water, and sorry"

5 days after arriving in New York and getting antiquated with her cousin, Esther was notified of an opportunity to work as a cleaning lady for my grandmother and her brother's families. Grandma and Poppop had 4 children, including a pair of crazy twins and my mom (also crazy). Uncle Alan and Aunt Marsha had perhaps an even crazier household, having two babies themselves.