Three Chicago siblings serve their country as another waits in wings

Published: 2008-04-25

CHICAGO (CNS) -- Elvira Sosa never saw herself as a military mother. No one in her family, or her husband Pedro's family, had ever served in uniform. So when her middle son, Robert Sosa, told her he had enlisted in the Army four years ago, she didn't believe him at first. Then, her older son, Oscar Sosa, decided to join his brother in the service. Most recently, her daughter, Rosemary Sosa, enlisted in the National Guard. Even the baby of the family, 7-year-old Adrian, has announced he wants to be a soldier like his brothers and sister. Elvira said she copes with the threat of her children being in harm's way by spending a lot of time in prayer. A parishioner at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Chicago, the mother of five works the night shift at a Keebler plant and uses her dinner break to pray the rosary. During the day, she cares for the two children of her oldest daughter, Laura. "People say, 'How do you do it? I would be a nervous wreck,'" said Elvira, seated in an easy chair flanked by military portraits. "I am a nervous wreck, but I have my faith."

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