Mercedes grandparents struggle to raise grandchildren whose mother died of cancer

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The United Way of South Texas is collecting contributions for the family, which will receive 100% of all donations. You can help them by calling the United Way of South Texas at (956) 686-6331 and ask about the Spirit of Christmas campaign.

MERCEDES — A shy Samuel Sosa, 7, sits on a comfy brown sofa burying his face against his big sister, Esmeralda Sosa’s side as she and their grandmother, San Juanita de Leon, recount the nightmare that has been the last year-and-a-half.

Esmer, a 17-year-old junior at Mercedes Academic Academy, has had to grow up fast since her mother, Maritza, became debilitatingly ill with bone cancer more than a year ago.

In August, just before the school year began, Maritza succumbed to the cancer, leaving behind Esmer, Sam and another son, 14-year-old Juan Manuel Sosa Jr.

A court ultimately awarded custody of the three children to San Juanita, 64, and her husband, 72-year-old Pascual de Leon, making their cramped four-bedroom manufactured home in rural Mercedes all the more cramped.

Not only do the three Sosa children live with their grandparents, but the couple also care for two cousins, Jose, 16, and Manuel, 17.

Altogether, the seven family members survive on whatever income Pascual can earn doing the odd handyman job, and through the help of their church and extended family.

But it’s been a tough road for the family, which has had to deal with more than their fair share of death in recent years.

Sometime in 2022, Maritza began complaining of pain in her back, hands and joints that made it difficult for her to move, Esmer, her eldest, said.

The young mom, who was only in her 30s at the time, went from working shifts at a local Jack in the Box restaurant, to crying in agony at home.

“She was so sick,” Grandma San Juanita said in Spanish.

“She cried and cried. It was very hard. And her kids were suffering, our whole family was suffering to see her in that condition,” she said.

But as her mother grew sicker, young Esmer took on the responsibility of caring not only for her ailing mother, but of her younger brothers, too.

And even now, four months after Maritza’s death, Esmer wrapped a protective arm around her little brother’s shoulder as he slowly warmed up to the strangers who had visited their home.

Before her death, Maritza told Esmer to be strong for her brothers, and to “keep going.”

“My mom would always tell me, like, ‘Siguen adelante.’ …. Not to stay there (stuck), you know? Just keep going,” Esmer said with a quiet but firm resoluteness.

“Even if things seem to be going backwards, just be strong for your brothers, and pos, it was going to be hard,” she continued in a mix of English and Spanish.

Maritza had been her best friend, Esmer said. She had been a light.

“My mom always had a smile on her face,” Esmer said. “Every time she’d go shopping, she’d be saying to everyone. She was always a happy person.”

But then Maritza became ill with what Esmer described as an “unknown” type of bone cancer that wracked her body with pain.

“She couldn’t sleep because the pain was so strong. All day and night, she cried. She was in a lot of pain,” Esmer said in Spanish.

Her daughter’s illness grew so severe that, eventually, San Juanita left her job as a caregiver for another critically ill relative to instead care for Maritza.

Last December, that relative died. Then in August, Maritza died at the age of 39.

“When my mom passed away, it was hard because I saw her when she was leaving. It was hard seeing her like that,” Esmer said.

“Then having to be in the court (for custody hearings) and all these things … we just wanted to be in peace,” she said.

That struggle has hardly lessened, her grandmother said.

“It’s been very hard,” San Juanita said through tears.

But, like her granddaughter, she, too, remained resolute, repeatedly saying that she is “going to keep going” for her grandchildren.

A slight woman whose work-worn hands rested in her lap, San Juanita said she has promised her grandchildren that she will go back to work in order to give them a house where they won’t have to worry.

The house she, Esmer and Sam sat in on Monday evening was far from that.

The floor lay riddled with patched holes, while multiple failures in the roof let water into the kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms and hallways any time it rains, the grandmother said.

Esmer said the house has become frigid every time the weather has turned cold these last few weeks.

Though they have window air-conditioning units to keep the home cool in the hottest summer months, they don’t have anything to keep it warm during the coldest.

But when asked what they needed most, both Esmer and her grandmother hesitated to answer. Their humility belied their family’s great need.

San Juanita said the roof could do with some patching, while Esmer said some blankets would help during the cold.

But a counselor at Esmer’s school said the home needs to be replaced. There’s just too much that needs fixing for patchwork to suffice.

“I don’t know what to tell you, but I’m going to keep going,” San Juanita said when asked what her family needs most now.

Then a moment later, she allowed herself a moment of mirth in saying her grandchildren would like a small Christmas tree.

Esmer, who is part of a cosmetology program at her high school, admitted she wouldn’t mind some makeup.

Her little brother, Sam, has plenty of toys, but likes Sonic the Hedgehog and Roblox, while middle brother, Juan, is currently enrolled in his school’s basketball program and loves all sorts of sports.

The boys — all four of them — could use shirts ranging from size: boys small for Sam, to teen small for Manuel and Juan, and men’s large for Jose.

The boys wear a range of sizes in pants, from kids size 7 skinny for young Sam, to 28-by-30, 29-by-32, and 40-by-30 for the rest of the boys.

Esmer wears a size large in shirts, and a size 12 in pants, while San Juanita wears a women’s medium, and Pascual wears a men’s medium.

Sam, the youngest, wears a size 2Y in shoes, while the rest of the boys wear 9.5 and 13-sized shoes. Grandpa wears a size 7.

Esmer wears a size 8.5 shoe, while grandma wears a size 6.