JOURNEY TO THE AISLE shares a life experience growing up in the barrio in south Texas where Spanish and Mexican cultural influences and traditions, being the norm, presented obstacles and conflicts while experiencing immersion into educational environments. The practice of Catholicism was the core of daily existence in the lives of families. Growing up in a family with ten siblings, the author shares stories about learning how to survive daily in a male-dominant Spanish speaking home environment where gender roles were defined through

unwritten rules. Attending an Irish Catholic Elementary School in the barrio and ultimately a public school system let to a journey of reflective questioning of cultural expectations. She relates personal struggles and conflicts encountered as she journeys through the process of deciding to make a commitment to marrying.