May 27, 2009 12:11 am US/Eastern
Sotomayor's Mother Speaks Out About Nomination
Sotomayor Will Be First Hispanic On The Court, If Confirmed
Sotomayor's mother lives in Margate
MARGATE (CBS4) ―
-
-
President Barack Obama announces United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor (L) of New York as his Supreme Court nominee as Vice President Joe Biden (C) watches at the White House May 26, 2009 in Washington, DC.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
-
-
Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
AP
Celina Sotomayor arrived home in Margate Wednesday to jubilant neighbors and newfound celebrity. That happens when your daughter is the first Hispanic nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"I never thought she would", said the proud mom before emotion got the best of her. "Oh, what she has accomplished, I have no words," exclaimed a woman still trying to adjust to the fact that New York Federal Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor – her little girl – is part of the American success story.
Celina raised her daughter and brother alone after their dad died when the children were young. They lived in the Bronx and had a home filled with love but tight on money. "My house was open all the time," said Celina, "and they sat at the table eating rice and beans, her and her friends. That is all I could offer them because most of the time I had nothing to eat, but they eat."
From that hardscrabble start, an overwhelmed mom had a front row seat at the White House Tuesday when President Obama walked in with her Princeton and Yale educated daughter. Celina Sotomayor told us, "I wish I could be like her. She is so good. She's so giving. She has no airs."
A family of Puerto Rican roots has now become an American success story. A proud mom will not talk much about politics or the tough Senate confirmation hearings that will put Judge Sotomayor's judicial rulings and philosophy under a microscope. She can only speak from the heart, like any good mother, when she says, "I always told them to be the best you can, always study, always be good. Be honest. That's the only thing I could have told them."
The lessons endured. They put Sotomayor's daughter, the daughter who credits her mom for all of her success, on the verge of making history.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
