Butterflies or Tigers

In 1923 Letters Were The Only Meansavailable To Liza Mitnik Tilson Tohold On To Loved Ones Left Behind Incolombia When Her Father Broughthis Young Family To What He Thoughtwould Be A Much Better Life In Theunited States. Only Four Years Old Atthe Time Liza Would Soon Becomean Inveterate Letter Writer.. Six Years Later The Great Depressionfell On Liza'S Alreadydysfunctional Family. In 1936 In Adesperate Effort To Feed His Familyof Six Her Father Uprooted Themfrom Suburban New Jersey To Aprimitive Farm In Central FloridaForcing Each Member Of The Familyto Explore New Coping And Survivalskills. Always An Outstandingstudent Liza'S First Encounter Withhigher Education Began In Triumphwith A College Scholarship Createdespecially For Her And Ended In Shame And Humiliation When Shewas Expelled For What Privateschool Administrators Consideredserious Rule Breaking. . Running From Failure And Disgraceto New York Her New Life Includedmarriage And Motherhood Years Ofevening Classes At City College Of Newyork And Two Satisfying Careers First As A Research Secretary-Typist At New York University And Later As A Bilingual Teacher In New York City Public Schools. . Liza'S Lifelong Letter Writing Paid Off When At Age 80 Urged By A Friend She Entered Two Stories In A Writing Competition Sponsored By The Way Of St. Francis Magazine. One Took First Prize And Was Published In The Magazine; The Second Appeared In A Later Issue. Her First Book The Colorful World Of A Barrio Kindergarten Was Published In 2003 And Her Second It'S About My Son Followed In 2007.