‘RAISING FIVE SIBLINGS MYSELF’
Samantha’s act of love keeps her family together
Rushing into their Orlando, Florida, home, the Rodriguez children drop their backpacks, run to the refrigerator for a snack and settle into their usual after-school chaos. Destiny, 7, and Bella, 9, giggle as they sit down at the computer to finish their homework so they can fit in playtime before dinner. Michael, 12, cranks up the radio as he sets the dining room table, and Brenda, 14, turns on the TV to watch The Vampire Diaries while Milagros, 16, and Samantha, 20, head into the kitchen to start making dinner. “Things are always a little crazy around here,” says Samantha with a laugh. “There isn’t a manual of how to handle everything. We’re learning as we go.”
Already the six siblings have learned more than anyone their ages should have to. In June 2013 their mother, Lisa Smith, died of cervical cancer at the age of 35. Three years later their father, Alexander Rodriguez, 44, died from lymphoma, and the children – then ages 4 to 17 – were left wondering what would happen to them. “There was no-one in our family who could take all of us in,” says Samantha. And that was when Samantha herself, then 17, stepped up. “I decided that I had to do everything I possibly could to help these kids,” she says. “There was no way that I was going to let us be split up.”
It was a decision that she hasn’t doubted for a single second. With help from their paternal grandmother, Lourdes Navarro, 76,
Samantha has taken on the roles of both mum and dad to her younger siblings packing their lunch boxes, taking them to and from school, scheduling their doctor’s visits, making sure homework gets done and getting everybody to bed on time. Church friends and neighbours have pitched in as well, starting a GoFundMe page for the children (gofundme.com/SamanthaRodriguez-raising-her-5-siblings) that has so far raised $138,203. In April the Orange County Sheriff ’s office, along with the community, bought the family a 2018 Nissan Versa, and a stranger offered to pay their car insurance for a year. “I am so blown away by the help we’ve received,” says Samantha, who works nights as a waitress at a nearby restaurant to help pay the bills. “It’s a reminder that everything will be OK.”
The six Rodriguez children weren’t always so sure of that. Even before their parents died, the family had fought to make ends meet, bouncing around from one Miami home to another when they couldn’t make the rent. And their father, Alexander, struggled with alcoholism. Still, says Samantha, “My mom always had this positive attitude and a smile on her face. She could make something out of nothing no matter what was happening. She never gave up on us”.
But in July 2012, Lisa was diagnosed with cervical cancer and had to quit her job as a cleaner to seek treatment. “It was a dark time,” recalls Samantha. “She just became sicker and sicker.” As Lisa’s health deteriorated, Samantha took on more responsibilities caring for the family. “I failed sixth grade because I missed 100 days,” she says. “I was in the hospital all those days.”
Fortunately, says Samantha, Alexander became sober around the same time and was there for his kids when they needed him most. “He did a whole 180,” she says. “I’m sure it’s because he knew he had to.” Nearly a year after her diagnosis, Lisa died at home. “It was all so sudden,” says Brenda.
The family – and their community – grieved for Lisa together. “The night she died everyone from our church came to the house and helped us with everything,” says Samantha. “They even chipped in to pay for the entire funeral.”
In the meantime, the family had left Miami and relocated to Georgia and, following Lisa’s death, had done their best to start a new life. “Life was stable,” says Samantha, “and we felt like things were finally calming down”.
But in November 2015, Alexander, then a manager for a communications company, was diagnosed with lymphoma – and died six months later. “We all grew up so fast. We really had no other choice,” says Samantha, who, following Alexander’s death, moved the family to Orlando, where a friend had offered her a waitressing job.
Because Samantha was just 17 when the children became orphans, she couldn’t legally become their guardian, so Navarro,
who had moved in with the family after Lisa died, signed the papers. Samantha is in the process of taking over legal guardianship from her grandmother, whose arthritis limits how much she can help with the kids. She’s also “saving all of my money” to move them into a bigger house and pay for college educations – for them and herself – and maybe even a visit to Disney World, just a few minutes from their home. “They deserve everything,” she says.
Trying to do all that and find time for herself – and her boyfriend, Jesus Santana, who helps out a lot with the kids – isn’t easy, but she’s confident it will all sort itself out. “I look at these kids, and I know it will all be all right,” she says.
Accepting all they’ve lost has been harder. “It still hasn’t hit me that we don’t have our parents with us and they don’t see what I’m getting to witness as the kids grow up,” says Samantha. “They both died so suddenly, and before we knew it, it was really just us.” All six children say that not a day goes by when they don’t think about – and miss – their parents.
“I know they wanted the best for us,” says Milagros, “so we want to make them proud.” And all five of the kids want Samantha to know how grateful they are to her. “I don’t know where we’d be without Sam,” says Michael, “but I know it wouldn’t be good.” Whatever the future brings, they’re all confident that they will face it together. “Every night we sit down together and say grace,” says Samantha. “We’ve come a long way, and we have a lot to be thankful for.”
“This is our new normal, and we just take it one day at a time” –Samantha Rodriguez