“One of my favorite memories is when I found myself, I guess! I'm a survivor of violence, which is very personal to share, but I've been able to grow enough where that's easy to talk about. One of the ways I felt empowered was when a woman asked where my partner (whom I had the traumatic experience with) was, and I had to explain what happened. I felt comfortable at that point in my life to share with her. And it was beautiful for her to say, 'You deserve better things in life.' For somebody who I'd only known because I frequented her shop — I don't even know her name! I call her señora, she calls me mija, and that's it, that's as far as we've gotten — and instead of questioning, 'Well what happened? Tell me the chisme, what's going on?' she immediately went to empowering me. That was the first time that I opened up to somebody who wasn't in my tight, close-knit trusting circle. To share that with her was monumental and a milestone in my life.”
