Elvira, telling her narrative to her son Eduardo around her kitchen table.

Chalchihites, Zacatecas, Elvira’s homeland. Her family emigrated from here in 1916

Elvira’s first communion in Chalchihuites, age 6

Elvira’s mother with Cuca (in arms), Elvira, Jobita, and Alta in Chalchihuites

Thinning sugar-beets using the now-illegal short hoe. Elvira did hard time for nearly 50 years in the fields of Scottsbluff, Nebraska

‘El Chante’ where Elvira’s family lived for many years

Elvira as a newlywed, flaunting her ‘shingle bob’. As a single girl, she was forbidden to cut her hair

The Flapper and her husband, the Dandy

What a kick! That’s a lampshade on her head. This teetotaler must be tipsy!!

At the Senior Center that Elvira founded. With her grandson, Mike

Relaxing in her kitchen. Elvira retired at age 89

Forming ‘testales’ with granddaughter Anne Marie. Elvira made the family tortillas daily, and rolled over one million in her lifetime

A toast on her 90th birthday. She doesn’t look a day older than eighty-nine!!

Digging weeds at 95

Elvira and her husband Maique took great joy in their garden. Here, she tends her beloved roses

Mamá Elvira’s great-grandkids at the presentation for the launch of her book in Oakdale, CA