Back in 1992, Cassandra Gentry was working full time and trying to finish her Master’s degree, so she could get ahead in her career and lay the groundwork for a comfortable retirement.

Life had other plans. Her daughter, Michelle, was murdered in a domestic-violence attack, leaving behind six-month-old Justin and two-year-old Julien. The father went to prison, nobody else could look after them.

‘I just ended up with two babies,’ Gentry, now 70, told DailyMail.com.

‘I was working and going to school, trying to complete my education. I had to stop school, it was just too much. That’s the hand that I was given. So I just played it.’