A sprightly nonagenarian who just recently turned 95 has many interesting stories about her life as a mother of several, a schoolteacher and a hard worker who was never above performing menial tasks to support her family.

But to be complete, this story about Isabelita Benavidez needs to begin in the days of one-room schoolhouses, cars that were guaranteed to have blowouts, and times when a nickel or dime allowed people to buy things.