Laysha Diego, 10

Laysha Diego has had a rough time in the short time she has lived. Last Christmas was that she didn’t get to spend the holidays with her sister. She was going to a rough time because of a disease and had to go out of the town for a while.

Laysha was drastically affected by this situation. She missed her sister so much that not having her around made her develop depression. She felt alone since her sister was the only person she really trusted and could talk to about anything.

“I felt so alone when my sister wasn’t around i felt like i didn’t have no one to talk to at the end of the day about what happen,” Laysha said.

Her sister not being around did not only affect her but her family as well. Their family tradition of being together in their grandmother house. That Christmas night they spend the holidays in the hospital.

“That year did not feel like christmas it felt more like a cold rainy day, like all of us were just sad and didn’t really enjoy our holidays in the hospital” Laysha said.

Laysha sister disease made laysha and her family take more care of themselves and always go to the doctor to check their health.

“Every month we now go to the doctor and make sure everything is okay with us,” Laysha said.

This year will be so much better for laysha and her family since they are all reunited and Laysha’s sister is way better, Laysha’s family is planning to spend it all together.

“This year will be so much better and fun,” Laysha said.

Karoline Villalobos 11

Karoline Villalobos, 11, has been going through a lot since her mother’s death, but with some company of her grandmother and her new family she is being getting more happier in Christmas.

“I get to spend this Christmas with my grandma since I didn’t had a chance to see her since she lives so far away from my dad and me,” Villalobos said.

Villalobos has gone through so many struggles since her mom died, but that doesn’t stop her from being happy and thankful on Christmas.

“It is not an object but when we are sitting on the table and we are together as a family but there is one chair left and it reminded me of my mom since she is not here,” Villalobos said.

She misses her mom, but she knows that not everything is going to last. She is living her teen life with the  company of her grandmother and being happy with her new family.

“My family is in Ecuador, and I’m here in El Paso, Texas and it is hard to be here since i only have my father and brother and sometimes my grandma since she lives in Ecuador and she flies all the way to El Paso to see me,” Villalobos said.

“That day was so special because I get  a chance to be together with my grandma and my brother, and my dad like the family we are.” – Karoline Villalobos, 11

Mario Barba, 11

Christmas is supposed to be a time of the year when all the family comes together to celebrate. It is a time for love and joy, this was not the case for Mario Barba, 11. His Christmas two years ago was nothing but a turmoil of family drama. What started off as a  simple family photo turned into an argument that lead up to a fight. His relatives had all sat down and talked, as the hours passed by, confessions began to rise and so the feud started. Eventually

“ We sat down and talked like a normal family. We spoke about the problems and came with a solution,” Barba said.

Barba and his family correctly solved the problem by talking it out. he told us that it was a bad and tense experience, and the sad part was that this happened during a holiday.

“ A question that I asked myself before was, ‘why on that day, why on that Christmas night,” Barba said.

Barba lets us know the frustration that he was feeling that dark night.

“Everything got fixed that same night, i felt a great relief when , but everybody was very tense. I would never want to repeat that day, only the happy part,” Barba said.