After a year I told her I was leaving because the work was too hard for $5.00 a month. She offered me $7.00 so I stayed for another year. After another year I told her I was leaving because I wanted a change. She offered me $10.00 a month. So I stayed for another while.

I used to have to walk to Church (Cathedral of St. John the Baptist on Harvey Road) at 6:00 a.m. in the morning. At around the time they offered me $10.00, I went to a mission and that is what changed me. It was a religious retreat – missionaries would come from different countries and have a retreat for a week, with Mass and confession every day. They taught me that everybody deserves to be treated with respect and that I did not have to put up with the way I was treated. So I decided I was going to leave. A friend told me about a place looking for a cook for $25.00 a month. So when the lady of the house left the next morning I packed my suitcase and left to go to work there at Bell's on Kings Bridge Road.

The cold and the misery I suffered while I worked at my first job was unbelievable – the cold bedroom, shoveling the coal and hanging out laundry. At that time there were no pants for women. All women wore dresses. The lady was so strict, everything had to be perfect. My first job was an experience I will never forget.