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USA250 Journal Project
Personal Chronicle: July 4, 2025 – July 5, 2026
A gift for reflection. A record of now. A story for what’s next.
✍️ “Who am I?”
I’m Carolina Rosa Ortiz.
Born to migrant workers. Raised under tarps, beside crates, on borrowed land.
Now this land has our name—but never forgets its cost.
I am the one who pays the bills. Who knows what the bank doesn’t say out loud. Who reads contracts, signs forms, remembers which neighbors voted against us and still brings them cobbler when their house floods.
I am not sentimental. That’s Miguel’s job.
But I know what love looks like when it’s tired and still shows up.
I believe in the soil, yes—but also in pivot tables and backup plans.
I don’t cry over oranges. I cry when the pump fails. When Mateo looks like his father but speaks like someone already halfway gone. When Lucia calls and I can hear the clock ticking behind her silence.
Who am I? I’m the one who stays calm when the storm is already here.
✍️ “How did I get here?”
My parents picked fruit in every state on the map. We followed the harvest. I learned to measure time by miles and bruises.
I met Miguel at a church dance. He was quoting Neruda. I rolled my eyes. Then I married him.
He promised me land that would outlast us. I believed him.
For years, we built something real. We had kids. We broke even. We argued about seed choices and hired help. I learned how to run a business. He wrote poems in the dirt.
But the world changed. The bugs came. The storms stayed. The buyers stopped returning calls.
And here I am. Still balancing budgets. Still cooking beans. Still negotiating over fences and futures.
How did I get here?
By keeping books while everyone else dreamed.
What has life taught me?
That love is not a fantasy—it’s logistics.
That silence can be strategy.
And that if women wait for the right time to speak, we’ll die holding our tongues.
Family, Friends & Associates
Miguel Oritz – Husband.
Lucia Oritz – Daughter.
Mateo Ortiz – Son.
Don Julio Salinas – Neighbor.
Anaya Powell – Local Co-Op Organizer and Agricultural Activist.
