Everybody experiences times in their lives when they have to make difficult decisions. When you’re a parent, these times can be more frequent, and the decisions even harder. For Cassie Camilo, at age thirty five that decision was whether or not to leave her two young children, aged nine and ten, in order to earn money for them in the United States.
She made the tough decision…and her family’s life was changed forever.
Cassie tells us about the hardships she underwent in order to look after her family. In order to give her kids a better life, she left them in her native Brazil where they were “having trouble financially” to get a fresh start in Westport, Connecticut.
Her two children were young and innocent to the struggle, and why their mother had to leave.
“In that time, I didn’t (know) nothing because I was a kid you know? I (didn’t) understand everything. My mom was here (Connecticut), working for us to give us an education, everything that a person need.” Says her son Jordan.
Jordan is now in Connecticut with his mother, and grateful for all that she did for him.
But Cassie didn’t do it all alone… In fact she received a lot of help from one generous “Angel”.
Peter DeRosa initially hired Cassie as a dishwasher before they became good friends. Peter’s generosity didn’t end with simple employment however…
He invested time, money and effort into Cassie, seeing that there was something in her that was worth it.
“I could tell she was a special person. So I did my share to try and help her whenever possible.”
Peter cared about Cassie’s wellbeing and one day went to check on her where she lived to check in on her, to find that she was terribly sick.
“I took it upon myself to take her to a walk-in doctor and the doctor said it’s a good thing you came, this girl is in really bad shape!”
Peter’s generosity kept going, surpassing just Cassie’s health, but feeling compelled to help her out in any way that he could:
“By this time I was like, all in y’know? I wanted to make sure she did well and tried to help her in different aspects and she decided to go for English classes. And I didn’t pay for everything but I tried to help her whenever possible. “
When Peter took her to interviews with his friends for cleaning jobs, he nudged her on her way.
Saying that he “liked the way she worked”, Peter explains that Cassie’s work ethic is what kept him eager to help. That before you’d even tell her what to do, she would jump to start doing it. It’s clear that the massive gamble that Cassie took on moving by herself to the United States would not have worked if she didn’t put in such tremendous work effort.
“She always tried to go a little further, learn things.”
Now married to husband Jeramy and with her son in Connecticut, Cassie is grateful for all the the opportunities that she has earned, and to Peter for everything that he has done for her.
“I called Peter my angel because I believe that God sent me him.”
Watch the video below to be inspired by Cassie’s full story!
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