It all started on a ``Make a Difference Day.'' I never knew there was a 94-year-old, long time Union City resident in that old and beautiful Victorian house at Alvarado-Niles Road, near Hop Ranch Road. The old house is situated very close to a bustling business center. There are nice restaurants, a bank, stores and lots of businesses around that house.

Mary de Sa, the lone occupant of that white Victorian house had lived there for 94 years and still lived there at the time of this interview. The cleaning of the front yard and the cutting of the trees by the ``Make a Difference Day'' volunteers, made the house visible. Even the white picket fence that the volunteers put in front made the house even more prominent.

Mary de Sa, a Portuguese descendant, was born in that house on November 12, 1904. Her father Joseph Vierra de Sa, then 35 years old and a bachelor, came and built the house. That was the front of the house. Then he got married to Felomena Silvera Sarrao and with the children coming, he added 3 more rooms in the back. Mary is one of the children. All the other siblings were already dead.

Her father and her father's four brothers came to Union City from the Azores in a big ship to settle. They planted beans, cabbage, strawberries and other fruits. After a while, they hired hands to help in the plantation. There were Chinese and even Filipinos in their plantation. This area is now where the Mexico Lindo, the Rose Garden, the Chamber of Commerce and all the other businesses are presently located.

When World War I broke out, Mary was kept at home. She was never permitted to go out or go to school. She remembered the first big World War I flu that broke out and she and her families had to help the sick. They also had to put up food for the soldiers.

When her mother died, she went back to school. She went to Decoto Grammar School by Mission. She remembers she had to walk to school from her home. Then she went to high school and then to college. She went to San Jose Teachers College, now a University, where she graduated. She became a teacher. She also worked for the government in an IRS office. Mary de Sa never did get married.

Elizabeth Ames and I visited Mary de Sa the second time after the interview, which only took place at the foot of her stairs. This time we went up her house. I was mesmerized. It was just like going back in time. The surroundings and the things in her house gave me a feeling that I was in the early 1900s. The old bed, the old Singer sewing machine, the sofa, the table, all of them were still in the same location and were still being used by Mary, especially the old sewing machine.

Mary still exuded the loveliness that she was once. She was wearing a white pantsuit and her short hair was well styled. Mary was very hospitable to us and was a very good conversationalist.

The old Victorian House is now empty. Mary is no longer there. I don't have any news from her. The house was put up for sale and will now be an office. Mary is still alive and is a living history.