Nancy Mendoza is unique. She is not your typical 24 year old.
For one thing, she is allergic to just about everything.
"I think a better list would be, 'What am I not allergic too?'" Nancy said. She always carries around an asthma inhaler, toothpaste, anti-bacterial hand sanitizer as well as various other pharmaceutical remedies; and that's only in her purse.
She also speaks three languages fluently, English, Spanish and French and that is just the outer shell of Nancy.
When you enter her house, the house welcomes you. Every room in the house is painted with a different accent color. The kitchen has warm blue accent walls, while her living room is a cool olive green. As you approach the back of the house, there is the dinning room, painted a dark shade of red with French paintings hanging. One in particular is of a Café in France at night.
"The whole house is set in a strict plan. My mom really follows Feng Shui, so the point of each room is to flow from one to another."
Nancy's room is no exception.
Her room alone can tell you stories about her life. She doesn't even have to open her mouth. She has a Moroccan themed bedroom with hot pink accent walls. The room is littered with trinkets of Nightmare before Christmas characters and pirate skulls. There are many Halloween themed Disney characters including a pirate Mickey mouse. She has framed pictures of Gwen Stefani, Jack's Mannequin, and Gavin Rossdale. Music symbols climb out from underneath her bed board and are scattered around her room. She has a wooden cat house by her window for one of her three cats and dog toys present obstacles for those entering the room. On her dresser are miniature Buddha in different positions. Behind the mini symbols of Buddha are statues of the Hindu gods Ganesh and Saraswati. "It's Harmony among chaos." Nancy says.
Being in Nancy's room is like being in a modern Ripley's believe it or not. It's not the eclectic trinkets or the way Nancy has every pair of shoe organized by color and heel and still in its original box that brings justice to this statement. It's the simplicity of a framed letter hanging on her bedroom wall by her mirror.
"Nancy and I were delighted with the news of your baby, and we send you our congratulations. We share your happiness on this exciting occasion and wish your family every health and success in the future. Ronald Reagan."
The envelope that it came in, once white, is now a light beige color in a custom made frame that displays both sides'. The return address reads: THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington and was sent with a 25 cent stamp; a small reminder of the past.
"Because I was born on July 4th, I was able to keep my family here in America instead of being sent back to Nicaragua where my family would have been killed."
The White house receives a list of babies born each day, but those who happen to be born on America's Independence day are paid special attention too. Nancy was no exception to this rule. Nancy's father, Ricardo Mendoza, wrote a letter to the president saying how much he loves America and how it was his dream to become a citizen of this country.
The Mendoza family was staying in America under Political asylum. Ricardo could not return to Nicaragua after the Sandinista's took control of the government. He was a Captain in the Nicaraguan army and any resistance to the Sandinista's was punishable by death. Ricardo insisted that his wife, Catherine Mendoza, leave with the children to Honduras to escape the war. Catherine was close friends with the French Ambassador at the time, and he insisted on helping her and the kids get out of Honduras while Ricardo stayed in Nicaragua and fought the Sandinista's.
"I refused to go unless my husband was coming with us." Catherine said.
Eventually, Catherine gave in and escaped with the children to France without Ricardo.
Three heart wrenching months passed and Catherine had not received any word as to if her husband was alive or dead.
"My gut told me he was still alive. I prayed for a signal, a sign, anything, to let me know that he was still alive."
Her prayer was answered. She received word from Ricardo that he was alive, well, and had finally escaped to Honduras. It wasn't until June of 1979 that he escaped by raft to El Salvador; where he was able to get in contact with his father, the ambassador to the Nicaraguan Army. His father was able to send him money so he and his family could start over again.
It was not long before he was reunited with his family in France; however, they did not stay in France for long. Ricardo left his family again to travel to Germany to pick up his father and bring him to Madrid, where his family stayed while Ricardo left for America to find a job.
In February of 1982, the Mendoza family was finally reunited in America. Ricardo had established himself with a company and was taken care of. They provided a house for the family in Coconut Grove, a house that provided shelter from the horrors of their homeland.
After Nancy was born, the Mendoza family started receiving letter from Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) that their time here in America was almost over. Ricardo kept filing for Political Asylum only to keep receiving these continuous letters.
" So I wrote President Reagan saying how much I loved it here in America and how much I wanted to stay."
The President responded.
President Reagan had remembered the Mendoza family because of Nancy, the name shared by his wife, Nancy Regan. He granted Political Asylum to the Mendoza Family himself; only for the request to go to the wrong family.
"The INS had granted the Political Asylum to another Ricardo Mendoza family living in the Coconut Grove area. This Ricardo was in the Nicaraguan Army as well and had filed for Political Asylum around the same time as we did."
So Ricardo did what any concerned father and provider for his family would do; he called the White House.
After Ricardo was announced to the president, he automatically knew who it was.
"He said, 'Don't tell me it's Nancy's father.'" Ricardo laughed.
Ricardo explained the situation to the president and that day President Reagan called over to the INS himself demanding that Political Asylum be granted to the Mendoza family and it is here, in America that the Mendoza's have stayed.
This was only possible because Nancy Mendoza was born on America's Independence Day.
While Nancy will never know the horrors of a civil war or the anxiety of being separated from her family and not knowing the whereabouts of a significant other, she does know the horror and anxiety of college life. Nancy is pursuing a Bachelors Degree at Florida International University in Public Relations. She works part time at the school as well as managing the promotional street team for LiveNation; the world's largest music promoters. Oh, and the three languages that the she speaks fluently, she also sings in as well. She's an aspiring musician hoping to catch her big break.
But as her dad says, "She's the only one in the family that can become president."
