She sold everything so she could graduate her children — twenty years later, they arrived dressed in pilot uniforms and took her to a place she never imagined.

And if anything never allowed to fade, it was the dream of Marco and Paolo.

THE MOTHER WHO SOLD EVERYTHING

Every day, at four in the morning, Doña Teresa would get up to prepare tamales, atole, and sweet bread, which she would then sell at the neighborhood market.

The steam from the atole fogged his glasses. The heat from the griddle burned his hands. But he never complained.

« Oaxacan tamales! Nice and hot! » she shouted sweetly among the market stalls.

Sometimes she came home with swollen feet. Sometimes without having eaten a thing. But she always brought something for her children to eat before going to school.

At night, when the electricity went out due to non-payment, Marco and Paolo did their homework by candlelight.

One of those nights, Marco spoke.

—Mom… I want to be a pilot.

Teresa stopped sewing for a moment.

Pilot.

A big word. Expensive. Distant.

« Pilot, son? » he asked gently.