Glenda Prado

I will say a typical Latin American Family, where violence against women is at the order of the day, physical abuse, shaking, burning, choking, hair-pulling, hitting, slapping, kicking, and any type of harm with a weapon like a knife or a gun is okay, even now they have invented new laws, this law is only embodied on paper because there are not authorities which actually enforce them. My family is very Catholic they took part in religious processions and attended mass every Sunday. But my parents frequently cheated on one other, and when they were caught and things didn’t go as planned, they physically abused us; their kids. So everyone assumed I would act the same way because this was seen as the norm. But I didn’t! I traveled away from South America to get away from that life. Unlike many of my people, I learned English and corporate skills in New York’s Roosevelt neighborhood in Queens. This allowed me to leave the immigrant group and its constrained way of life and enter the larger American society. I have always been interested in law and wanted to practice it. I spent time working in a law firm as a legal assistant. I worked with my husband as his assistant before getting married to George Katchmer, an American lawyer, I bought my farm, and later on bought a house in Spain, returning to school at Valencia International University to study Law after a twenty-four-year break. I wrote “Free Spirit” to show women in my society and other societies with a male predominance that you do not have to put up with ese Dominio and oppression!! Not so I could whine and play the poor girl. Although I was a bit angry when I wrote my book, I HAVE TO LEARN TO SAY NO!! I have set my boundaries and limits and this helps me heal. I later realized it was in the past. So, if you want to change something, you can always do it.