After moving to Brooklyn Maria had 3 children, making the family a total of 5 children. However after a few years, Francisco decided to file for a divorce, leaving Maria to raise and fend for 5 children on a single salary. Maria, being the very religious woman she was, decided to never remarry as she saw it was betraying her religion to marry another man.

After the divorce Maria worked as a nurse, helping out the sick for very long shifts in order to provide for her children. She was always constantly working, or practicing religion. She did her absolute best to make sure that food was always on the table, and her kids were raised as properly as possible. Her hobbies at the time included singing in the church choir, and watching wrestling on the television.