The dark Chicago skies and bitter windchill on Valentine’s Day weekend inspired a cozy night celebration of love for many, but not for the Brighton Park neighborhood’s flower and teddy bear vendors. The bright red hues of the hearts were a stark contrast to the gloomy weather.
Even through snow-slushed roads, the vendors walked from one car window to another, presenting their spreads of colorful flowers. Bouquets with roses, sunflowers, gypsophilas and carnations line sidewalks while plush teddy bears hung from makeshift vertical grates.
Despite anxieties surrounding President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, local vendors continue to endure frigid temperatures in Chicago working to make ends meet for their families.
Mari, a Mexican merchant who sells teddy bears going by her first name for fear of her safety, said she worked the holiday out of “deliberate necessity.” That’s a sentiment echoed by many vendors out on the streets.
“I haven’t been able to pay my rent or anything. And that’s why I’m out here in the cold like yesterday when the snow got me and everything,” Mari said in Spanish with tears in her eyes.
Originally from Guerrero, México, she moved to the US only two years ago, living in Denver, Colorado for most of her time in this country.
For years, while living in Tamaulipas, Mexico, she sold toys and gifts for special occasions. And this year, she started her small business selling gifts in Chicago.
Mari said that her son and daughter are her motivation to pull through slow days, tough weather and a turbulent political climate.
“My older son is a citizen, but my little girl is scared, and she wasn’t born here,” she said. “She was going to be born here but my water broke in México and I wasn’t able to have her here.”
Mari said she finds solace in a possible miracle touching President Trump’s heart, such as a nationwide amnesty for all the immigrants who work hard and contribute to the US’s economy.
“For God, nothing is impossible,” she said.
On South Pulaski Road, Cristina, going by first name for fear for her safety as well, is the owner of Margarita’s Creaciones. She also said that her faith in God keeps her determined to keep working.
“If there are sales, thank God. And if not, then we have to keep on working hard,” she said in Spanish.
Even though her business is going through challenges, she doesn’t want to close her store down. In part, due to the significant loss of income, but more importantly, she does not want to lose something that started as a way to honor her mother, she said.
Similarly, for Cástulo García, selling flowers is a way of continuing his mother’s legacy. She had a passion for gardening and maintained one in their home in Chiapas, México.
“I am very interested; [it’s] as if she were with me and it makes me feel happy,” said García.
This is García’s first year in Chicago and he is still learning how to speak English. He said doing so motivates him to go to his stall and sell flowers every day.
“I put my heart into the work I do,” García said in Spanish. García said that it is his father’s words that keep the positivity in him alive.
“He told me that if I want to get ahead I always have to keep a positive mind,” García said. “If you put yourself in the negative, even if things are going to go well, later they go wrong because your heart is not dedicated to what you are doing.”
The vendors agree that language, weather and political climate are not good enough excuses to stop them from keeping familial love and their faith alive.
