WEBVTT A SIMPLE GIRL FROM DORCHESTER. ALMA LOOK AT THIS. I WILL READ YOU THIS FIRST PAGE. MARIA: OF COURSE I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU. ALMA "PLEASE, GOD, LET PEOPLE KNOW WHO I AM BEFORE I AM GONE. MARIA: IF YOU DID NOT KNOW WHO THIS IS, THIS IS ALMA WAHLBERG, AND SH WAS A GODLY FIRST. -- DONLEY FIRST. MARIA: FISHING THE SAME PERSON? ALMA I AM REALLY HAPPY NOW, AND GROWING UP I WAS NOT. MARI THIS IS NOT A STORY ABOUT MARK OR DONNIE, PAUL, FOR ANY OF THE OTHER KIDS IN THEIR SUCCESSES. THIS IS A STORY ABOUT ALMA. HOW DID A MOTHER RAISE NINE KIDS IN A TINY HOUSE IN DORCHESTER WITH NO MONEY AND A PRETTY TOUGH UPBRINGING? YOUR PARENTS WERE ALCOHOLICS. YOU WE A GIRL WHO GREW UP IN DORCHESTER, AND YOU DID NOT HAVE REALLY ANYTHING. ALMA: NO. I HAD WELFARE CHECKS. MARIA: AND YOU LAUGH. ALMA: [LAUGHS] YEAH. I WAS ALWAYS A BELIEVER. YOU DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO. MARI YOU ARE PROUD THAT YOU CAN FROM DORCHESTER -- ALMA: ABSOLUTELY. MARIA: EVEN THOUGH SOME OF YOUR HARDEST TIMES WERE FROM THERE. ALMA: THE THING I REMEMBER MOST ABOUT IT WAS THAT EVERYBODY WAS IN THE SAME BOAT. EVERYBODY WAS HELPING EACH OTHER. I BELIEVE TODAY, ONE OF MY NEIGHBOR COULD PASS AWAY AND BE IN THERE FOR WEEKS ON THE FLOOR. NOBODY WOULD EVER NOTICE. MARIA: SO WHAT IS IT INSIDE OF YOU THE DID NOT SEE THE, THE HARD PARTS. ALMA I FEEL LIKE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY. YOU FIND A WAY. I MEAN, I HAD NINE KIDS DEPENDING ON ME. MARIA: NINE KIDS, ALMA! NINE CHILDREN? ALMA: I LOVED IT. THAT WAS THE HAPPIEST TIME OF MY LIFE. MARIA: ALM ADMITS IT WAS FAR FROM PERFECT, BUT IT WAS LIFE, AND IT MAKES FOR GREAT STORIES RIGHT NOW. ALMA: I WOULD LITERALLY CLIMB FENCES. I WAS CHASING ONE OF MY KIDS COME AND I SAID "YOU HAD BETTER STOP," AND I JUMPED THE FENCE TOO. AND I SAID "I AM NOT GIVING UP UNTIL I GE YOU." MARIA: YOUR FAMILY HAS SEEN SUCH EXCESS. INCREDIBLE, -- SUCCESS. INCREDIBLE, MIND-BOGGLING -- ALMA: YOU WILL MAKE ME CRY. MARIA: WHY? ALMA: BECAUSE I STILL, TO THIS DAY, THEY ARE WONDERFUL. THEY GIVE TO EVERYBODY. THEY HELP PEOPLE. THEY ARE -- AND I AM LIKE THOSE ARE MY KIDS! MARI WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO TO ALL OF YOUR KIDS. ALMA: CALL YOUR MOTHER. I DO NOT CARE WHERE YOU ARE OR WHAT YOU ARE DOING. IT TAKES ONE MINUTE. MARI WHEN SHE WAS YOUNGER, HER HER STE BROTHER -- HER STEPFATHER TOOK HER TO A LOCAL PLACE. ALMA I THOUGHT HE HAD A MICROPHONE, AND WE SET OF NETWORK, AND SHE SAID YEAH -- SAID DOES THA WORK, AND SHE SAID YEAH. HE SAI "YOU ARE GOING TO SING FOR US." MARIA: CAN YOU SING? ALMA: YES. MARIA: SING FOR US. ALMA "PENNIES FROM HEAVEN." MARI THING A LITTLE BIT. ALMA: ♪ EVERY TIME IT RAINS, IT RAINS PENNIES FRO HEAVEN ♪ MARIA: PLENTY OF LAUGHTER AND ALSO SADNESS, ESPECIALLY WHEN SHE LOST HER DAUGHTER, DEBBIE. ALMA THAT WAS AWFUL. AND THE HARDEST PART IS THA DEBBIE DIED THE DAY THAT MARKS DAUGHTER WAS BORN, WITHIN MINUTES. SO MARK IS TELLI ME CALLING ME TO TELL ME THAT HE HAS A DAUGHTER, AND HAVE TWO TELL HIM I HAVE LOST ONE. IT WAS AWFUL. BUT I KEPT TRYING TO BE A LITTLE OF THE, BECAUSE HE WAS SO THRILLED. MARI YOU CAN TALK TO ALMA FOR HOURS, AND WE DID SO MANY STORIES AND MEMORIES. SHE IS NOW PUTTING IT ALL IN A BOOK. IT IS NOT DONE YET, BUT SHE SHARES HOW IT BEGINS. ALMA: PEOPLE KNOW ME AS BEING THE MOTHER OF FAMOUS CHILDRE ALTHOUGH THIS FACT HAS BROUGHT ME MANY GIFTS AND HAS AFFORDED ME OPPORTUNITIES THAT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE OTHERWISE, THERE IS A WHOLE A MORE TO MY STORY THAN MOST PEOPLE KNOW. I HAVE LIVED WITH ALCOHOLISM INTERVIEWS, STRUGGLED WITH POVERTY -- AND ABUSE, STRUGGLED WITH POVERTY AND WEALTH, LOST SO MANY THAT I LOVED, STRUGGLED TO RAISE NINE CHILDREN, AND I LOVE THEM MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, WATCH THEM SUFFER AND COME OUT ON THE OTHER SIDE, FOUND MYSELF IN LOST MYSELF AGAIN AND AGAIN, KEPT MOVING FORWARD, NO MATTER WHAT. IN THE END, I HAV SURVIVED, AND THIS IS MY STORY. MARIA: ALMA TELLS ME SHE’S PUTTING HER FINISHING TOUCHES ON HER BOOK RIGHT NOW. I TOLD HER PEOPLE WANT TO READ IT NOW AND SHE SAID TO ME, QUOTE, "HEY, LISTEN THIS IS YEARS OF LIFE I’M TRYING TO