When she was just 16, Lupe
married a young Mexican-American
dental technician. Within five years, she
had given birth to her three children,
Victor, Mario, and Martha. Lupe’s grandparents
lived with the young family.
Lupe was quite happy with her life. “I
cooked, sewed, cleaned, and cared for
everybody,” she said. “I listened to my
grandmother when she told me what
made a good wife. In the morning I
would actually put on my husband’s
shoes and tie the laces—anything to
make his life easier. Living with my
grandparents for so long, I was one
generation behind in my ideas of what
a woman could do and be.”