The result was that it was easier for Marina's great grandmother to live separately from her husband. Then, when Marina's grandmother tried to get a college education, she would be kicked out every semester because her stepfather was a priest. Apparantly, every semester they would recheck their students' backgrounds. Every semester she'd have to do something to try to convince them to let her back in. Apparantly, the fact that her stepfather was a priest haunted her throughout her life.
Marina is a single mom struggling to live on a teacher's salary.
She says that thanks to the fact that Connie and Brittany are here, whom she tutors, she and her sons are able to live a tiny bit above the just-survival level. But, she is already worrying about the time when they will have to go into the Army. That is the fear of every adult with a son, grandson, or nephew. The only way to survive the army is to buy yourself out. One guy in our church, for example, we believe totally bought himself out, because, despite the fact that he was headed for the Army, he never went.