Reading Changed My Life - Townsend Press

Reading Changed My Life! Three True Storiesthree years. As doctors try to keep Maria healthyenough to handle the wait, she is frequently at theiroffices or in the hospital.In the meantime, in and around medicalappointments, Maria continues going to college.She has recently begun her student teaching in anelementary school. “It’s a dream come true forme,” she said. “To be back in the classroom, not asa scared little kid but as a teacher—who would havethought it was possible?” But it is true. Maria—thescared, silent child in the back of the classroom; theyoung mother who worried that she could notunderstand her own little girl’s books—is teachingthese children to read.Maria Cárdenas has traveled a long way from herearliest days in the migrant fields. As a child, she hadto find beauty and hope in the simplest things—forinstance, an orange marigold in a tin cup. Today, inspite of her worries about her health, she sees reasonsfor rejoicing all around her. Her family, her30