Timeline

Patria Mirabel was born the oldest of her three other sisters in 1924, and lived with them and their mother and father as a child.  Throughout her childhood Patria was always very religious and motherly towards her three sisters.  At age 14, she went off to school at Inmaculada Concepcion where everyone thought she was going to be a nun and thought it to be a pity because of how pretty they said she was.  When she turned 16, she decided that the life of a nun was not her calling and did not go back to school with her sisters in the upcoming fall.  Patria began working with her father to help with the farm and a man named Pedrito, who worked for her father, caught her eye.  They quickly fell in love with each other and due to Patria's old-fashioned nature they wanted to get married even at that early age.  Her father wanted her to wait until she was 17 to get married but they ended up doing it earlier than previously arranged.  Shortly after their marriage they had two children, a boy and a girl, and later Patria gave birth to a stillborn baby.  After the loss of her child Patria started to lose her faith in religion because she couldn't understand how such a terrible thing could happen to her.  She eventually regained her faith once she and her family went on a pilgrimage to see the Vergincita, and she felt as if she was spoken by God when she touched the statue.  The years passed and at age 35, Patria's two children were almost all grown up and she was about to have another baby.  During her pregnancy she supports her sisters in the cause of trying to start a revolution, but she isn't exactly ready to help out herself.  She would provide them with a safe place to meet but did not get involved in any political matters.  In the same year Patria decided to go on a church retreat up in the mountains and thought the fresh air would be good for the baby in her womb.  While she was there the house they were in was bombarded by gunshots, smoke, and screaming, and she witnessed a group of young men get gunned down in front of her.  This was the moment she finally wanted to be part of whatever her sisters were getting themselves into because she finally was able to see that what their country needed was freedom.