Maria Tereza dos Santos, daughter of Águeda Teresa dos Santos Rodrigues and Antão Augusto Rodrigues, was born on April 8, 1943 in the municipality of Paul, on the island of Santo Antão. However, on her identity documents her date of birth is stated as April 1, 1940. This is because there was a fire at the Santo Antão registry in which all documents were lost. People had to be registered again and our mother's parents, already very old, confused the dates and put April 1, 1940. But in a church register it can be seen that Maria Teresa dos Santos was born on April 8, 1943.
Nha Teresinha or Teresa, as she was affectionately called, was born into a poor and numerous family. Her parents owned a piece of land that was barely enough to support them all. As our mother used to say, she had been a very outgoing and cheerful child. The rags that adorned her in no way hid her spiritual wealth. Her aura glowed white-hot beyond the longest edge of her rags. That's why a wealthy family from Paul adopted her when she was about 8 years old. However, a sister of the woman who adopted her liked her so much that she took her with her to the island of Sal and then to São Vicente. In São Vicente children, daughters of another sister, liked her so much that they did not want her to return to Santo Antão. And as our mother didn't want to return either, she ended up staying with the other sister of the lady who adopted her at the first place, also a family with many possessions at the time.
Our mother was raised in São Vicente in the bosom of this wealthy family, helping to care for children a little younger than she was. But she never left her blood family. She stayed with the foster family until she became pregnant of her first child, Neusa. Our mother didn't have much luck with men and so she had to raise her children alone. She was a fighting woman. She worked as a laundress and as a servant in public works. She raised her eight children (one died while still a baby) with sacrifice, but with great honesty and dignity. She “She made the heart out of her guts” not only to support their children but also to give them a good education.
Our mother's life improved when the eldest daughter, Neusa, graduated and got a job as a teacher. But it got even better when Neusa emigrated to the United States. She, like a good daughter she always was, helped the whole family by sending money, clothes and food. In 1996, our mother, Maria Tereza dos Santos, also immigrated to the United States. She worked a lot in the factories, even accumulating two jobs to support herself and her children in Cape Verde and even save money so that they could join her in America. She had to work a lot because, in the meantime, her daughter Neusa got sick and couldn't work anymore, and the expenses were all on her.
As she was always a generous person, with a lot of light and a friend to everyone, she gained a lot of sympathy in America from people who also supported her. Everyone loved Teresinha/Teresa, from children to the elderly, because she was cheerful and liked to tell anecdotes and was always ready to help anyone who needed it. Maria leaves behind 3 daughters, 5 sons, 14 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. She had many friends, but among them all, Dulce, she used to say, was a daughter for her, who also had her as a mother.
Nha Teresinha/Teresa didn't have much schooling, but she was a wise woman. She lived life wisely, always leaving us a lesson. Her departure from this world had to be painful, like Jesus', to prepare her children and to leave us one more lesson in life. Even in sickness and suffering she was great, leaving us a life lesson of perseverance in the face of all adversities, of accepting difficult moments with dignity and always be grateful for the conquests and for the gift of life. She will be remembered by all as a good woman, full of light, who fulfilled her destiny in this world, where she lived spreading love and light.
A thunderous applause for this woman!!! Peace to her soul!

Relatives and Friends are invited to attend Calling Hours Sunday, July 10th from 2pm-5pm in the Keefe Funeral Home, Five Higginson Ave. Lincoln. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place Monday, July 11th DIRECTLY at St. Anthony Church, 32 Lawn Ave. Pawtucket RI at 10am. Burial will follow in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Riverside.