Beronica, a middle-aged Ecuadorian woman, couldn’t tell the American doctor her birthday or her age. She and her 12 siblings grew up in such poverty that her parents could not afford birthday presents or celebrations for any of the children. Nor could they send them to school. In order to avoid the shame and heartache of being unable to provide any festivities, Beronica’s parents simply said nothing about family birthdays.
Listening to the conversation between Beronica and the doctor were the doctor’s three daughters: Cassie, Jessie, and Alexis Ross. The girls blinked away tears as they grappled with the depth of hardship to which Beronica—and millions like her—had been reduced. In their comfortable Huntington Beach life in California, the idea of never having a birthday party—and, more, not even knowing the day you were born—was unthinkable.
