No. 23 in Line at the DMV

Life in general. I’m just happy that I’m able to wake up in the morning — just to see another day, to come to work to see the people.

I wake up to see my husband every day. I’m a great-aunt.

I feel old but grateful for that. And then my nephew, he just graduated from high school. He was like, “I’m moving in with you,” and I’m like, “Oh, OK. I guess I have two free bedrooms.” So that’s my roommate at my house. He’s amazing. Very shy, doesn’t really talk a lot. I’ll see him when I get off work. Every night, he picks the movie, and then I’ll ask what’s for dinner. He’ll start college [soon]. I don’t know what his major is gonna be, but he runs track. I told him I’m proud of him, and we bought him a car. He’s very calm, cool, and collected. He does his own thing, and when he’s ready to hang out with us, he just hangs out. We’re the cool auntie and uncle.

I’m currently in college for interior design. I like art, and I figured it would be the easiest thing to go to college for.

Next year, I wanna have my license and a car and just stay working a job. But it’s kind of hard because I’m going back and forth from Vegas to Arizona, which is, like, three hours. I had a car before; I had my permit. But my permit expired, so I’m just trying to get it renewed.

I work at a mortuary as a mortician.

The people don’t talk back. I organize the wakes. I organize flowers. I do the obituaries. And I help get them dressed. I also drive the hearse. You try to make people happy. Whatever you say is not gonna make them happy, but at least it’s going to make their experience a little bit better. If they come in and their family member looks nice, I think that’s one thing you can focus on. I had an older lady, and she had 63 grandkids. What we did for them was tiny little charms. We cut out pictures [and] taped the picture on the charm. It made all the difference.

I like drawing and art, especially tattoos.

No, I just do it on myself.

My dad taught me how to tattoo. He learned in prison, and he taught me. He’s got his neck tattooed, his arms, he’s got some face ones. I want to get my whole body tattooed.

Sitting, talking to my friends, waiting. [Gestures to one of them] He has to take a driver’s test, and he needed my car. He has a Florida license, but it’s expired, so we’ve been waiting for six months — appointment, appointment, appointment. The DMV is not like it used to be. It’s a lot of waiting time.

The man upstairs. I believe in God. My family, after they died, they walked the house as ghosts. My dad followed me for 25 years. My family were Gypsies, fortune tellers; they had a lot of power. I had arthritis when I was 12. When my father died, he was 36 and I was 16. He took the arthritis away from me. He died, and he said, “I’m going to help you out, son.” And I threw the crutches away and walked out of the hospital. I was planning on being in a wheelchair my whole life.

I came here to help my friend who wants to get his license, so I’m trying to come in to help him because he doesn’t speak English.

I love taking pictures. I have professional equipment for pictures. I have maybe four cameras. I use Canon, and I have all different lengths of lenses.

Sometimes, you know, when my friends call me: “Hey, can you do my daughter’s pictures for her birthday, or weddings?” I don’t do this for money; I just do it for a hobby. I photograph what I want, which is great.

I have a teenager who is recovering from a lot of medical issues. I have been so amazed about how much technology and science is helping us. She used to get seizures, but not anymore because of the medication she’s taking. She’s having a normal life. Her hair is growing even though she did chemotherapy. She’s going through so much, but she looks like a normal kid. Life keeps amazing me every single day. I came from another country, and it was so hard for me. I had to work when I came here because I was a single mother. It was so hard to learn a different language. I had no opportunity to go back to school, so I had to basically learn English on the street. I ask myself, “Should I continue?” But now I’m single, and I have all the time in the world. My kids are grown up, so I think it’s a good time to go back to school. ●