SAN ANTONIO – The latest Pickup Lines segment features San Antonio’s former First Lady Erika Prosper Nirenberg.
Prosper Nirenberg was born in Weslaco and was a farm worker by 5 years old, tending the fields and picking onions with her family.
“It was very tough,” she recalled. “It wasn’t just tough, but I think what it does is, as a child, it forces you to think of like, how are you going to just keep going, right?”
“So in the heat, in days you didn’t want to wake up, in wet days where you knew that your friends were having a great time at the beach and here you are in the field, it gives you a resiliency that I didn’t realize was so important to me until I got to be an adult and had my own child,” she said.
Her parents divorced when she was an infant, and to this day, Prosper Nirenberg has never met her biological father. Trouble at home eventually led to her being placed in foster care.
“My mother went through a rough time where she made some very bad choices that prompted me to end up in a foster,” she said. “I was 17 when I was placed, and so I think really gave me a whole other perspective to feel like you don’t have a home. You know, you’re homeless for a bit, you’re aimless and what do your roots become?”
Despite the turmoil, Prosper Nirenberg excelled in school, graduating fifth in her high school senior class. She then went on to college, eventually earning four degrees and meeting her future husband, Ron Nirenberg, while attending the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania.
“The secret was his bathroom was spotless,” she said. “The care he showed to ensure that bathroom was clean so I would be comfortable in his bathroom, I remember thinking, not only is this spotless, which is an indicator of someone you do want to like, you know, potentially marry, but also the fact that he went out of his way to clean it before I came also showed thoughtfulness.”
The Nirenbergs have been together for 24 years and have a son, Jonah, who is currently studying abroad in Japan.
Watch the full Pickup Lines with Erika Prosper Nirenberg in the video player above.
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Ernie Zuniga started Pickup Lines, a digital talk show, straight from his vehicle. The segments feature a diverse range of guests, including executives, small business owners, and everyday individuals, as they share personal journeys, news, and stories.