Maria Cavalcante-Flemings parents used to tell her that she must always get up to fall again. Throughout her life, which has spanned continents, states, and countless challenges, she has always strived to do just that. Since arriving in the United States of America, her journey has taken her from New York to Hawaii, from Hawaii to Portland, Portland to Hawaii, and then Hawaii back to Portland. Each of the nearly fourteen thousand days she has lived in the country, from the ages of 31 on, have been filled with every joy and hardship imaginable. My Life in USAis a warmly told memoir of a very full life where Maria recounts memories, achievements,
