"When I started working, I got a sense of independence. I have two daughters and I like the fact that now I don't have to ask others for anything. In fact, now my mom asks me to help her out instead of me asking her. That makes me happy. I remember when I got my own car and I did everything on my own. I can buy whatever my daughters want.
"When I was 6 months pregnant with my first daughter, I was away from my family and my sister passed away. My family kept it from me because I was pregnant. They didn't want me to get depressed. I was really close to her.
"That had a profound effect on me. It changed my way of thinking about life. It changed how I viewed my family. Instead of bringing us together, it drove us apart. It was the first time I had lost somebody. I didn't know how to cope with it, I didn't know how to grieve. I felt a lot of hatred and I didn't believe in God at that time. So, I started to go to church a little bit.
"The death of my sister changed me. I named my first daughter [Faith] after her. Now I cherish every moment I have with her - I didn't expect to lose her so early. Now I look at it this way, if something big happens in your life, you have to keep moving forward. I have three tattoos because of my sister. One says, 'keep moving on.' Another one says, 'time will heal' and the third says, 'Faith.'"
~ Yecenia