MISSION — After losing her husband earlier this year, Zelene Olivarez is now facing the challenges of single parenting, the effects of losing a loved one, and the changes brought by the pandemic.
Up until about three months ago Zelene, her husband and four daughters lived in San Antonio where they lived a normal, happy life with the further excitement of expecting a fifth child.
“I believe I had a perfect family, perhaps we didn’t have all the luxuries, expensive clothes, or eating out at fancy restaurants all the time, but we were together and did things as a family,” Zelene said.
That all changed when Zelene’s husband tragically died, and now felt she couldn’t stay in San Antonio because she didn’t have family in that area.
“We didn’t want to be alone because now my family is only girls. The day my husband passed away my life changed completely,” Zelene said.
Additionally, her brothers insisted she return with them to the Rio Grande Valley.
Zelene, 30, and her five daughters returned to Mission to live with her parents and three brothers. Making it a total of 11 people living under one roof.
Although grateful to her parents for taking the family in, Zelene is aware that the situation brings other difficulties.
“Our lives changed from one day to the next … before, we had our own home with a yard where the kids could play on their trampoline,” Zelene said. “We would go to church, my oldest daughters were doing great in school, they were getting A honor roll — we were happy.
“Now we are crammed in a small room that my mom was using for storage where my daughters no longer have the space to do the things they loved, my daughters are struggling in some of their classes, and now we don’t even go to church.”
As a stay-at-home mom, taking care of her daughters was her routine. Zelene would spend time with her daughters watching religious cartoons, singing songs, dancing, and doing other activities with her children.
The single mother of five children, ranging in age from 1 month to 8 years old, now balances caring for her children while also helping out as much as she can around the house.
The time she spends with her daughters varies from day to day because she has other people depending on her.
During the pandemic, her husband would be the one to go to the stores if the family ever needed anything. Now she is the one running errands.
“My mom sends me to the store if she ever needs anything and that’s scary because I have five daughters who are still little,” Zelene said. “Sometimes, when I don’t have anyone to take care of my children, I have to take all my kids with me and, being so young, all they want to do is touch everything at stores. I have to constantly get after them and I feel it isn’t fair for them.”
With all the changes her daughters have faced throughout this year, Zelene worries that it will have an unnecessary mental and emotional toll on her daughters.
“I want them to be OK health-wise, they aren’t sick thank God, but their attitudes have obviously changed. I don’t want them to be sad or to grow up thinking … why us?” Zelene said.
She explains that what she most wants this year is to be able to obtain her own home, to have her own space where she can devote her time to her daughters.
“I want to be able to have a place where it will be just us … so that I can give them a life similar to what we had before … where I spent much more time with them,” Zelene said.
This holiday season, Zelene askes that the community help with any amount they can contribute, as due to COVID-19, only monetary donations are permitted. Zelene has stated that she plans to use whatever help she receives from the community toward regaining the independence and self-sustainment of her family, which was lost with the loss of her husband.
Donations for this family, and others, can be made by contributing to the Spirit of Christmas campaign through the United Way of South Texas. They can be reached at (956) 686-6331 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Due to COVID-19, only monetary donations are being accepted for the families in need.
