She arrived in California with one dollar in her pocket and no English. Twelve years later, she had a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and a tenured professorship. This is not a fairy tale. This is what it actually cost.
"A quiet and practical book, neither sentimental nor exaggerated. None have helped me in my own life as this book has." — Tristine Rainer, author of Your Life as Story (Penguin/Random House)
I grew up in Southern Spain, in the shadow of a father whose mind I could never predict. A mind that terrified me. At eighteen, I left home with a few dresses in plastic bags. At twenty-one, I left everything else: my ocean, my language, my flamenco, my people.
California was supposed to be the answer. Within months, I was an undocumented immigrant without fully understanding what that word meant. I cleaned houses for three dollars an hour. I took whatever work came. I had no English, no plan, and no one waiting for me.
What I had was anger. A quiet, burning anger that would not let me fail, and a stubborn belief that I deserved a life better than the one I was given.
This book is the honest account of what came next. Not the polished version. The real one: the loneliness, the humiliations, the courage, and the small, stubborn choices that added up to a life I built myself.
This book is for you if:
• You've survived something that was meant to break you
• You carry anger you were told to let go of, and it's the thing that keeps you moving
• You're an immigrant, a mother, a dreamer, or a woman starting over
• You've whispered to yourself: I deserve more than this
Inside these pages:
• Why anger, when you learn to channel it, becomes one of the most powerful forces for change
• The unspoken truth of the immigrant experience: loneliness, discrimination, reinvention
• How to build an identity you choose instead of the one you inherited
• A lived framework for creating the life you deserve: not affirmations, but action
If you have ever whispered I deserve more than this, start here.
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Sizing details
Bracelets size sometimes represent the inner circumference of the bracelet, while other times it represents the length of the centerline. I follow the standard of using the centerline as the metric for size. When you choose the size of one of my bracelets here is what I recommend.
1. Measure with a flexible measuring tape or with a piece of string the exact location where you want to wear your bracelet,
2. Add from ½ to 1½ inches depending on how loose you like to wear your bracelets.
For example, my wrist measures 6’’ and I usually wear 7” bracelets, since I like them just a tiny bit loose. If you like your bracelets tight in your hand, I suggest that you only add ½” to your wrist measurement. If you like them loose, then add 1 ½”,