Having lived in America my whole life, I am well aware I have been fortunate enough to not encounter as many hardships, nor obstacles compared to many others I know who have struggled or struggle much more than I ever have. I have always had access to a good education, support from people who care about me, safety, health, and many more wonderful opportunities. It makes me feel immensely grateful for everything I currently have and want to eventually give back to those who may need a hand in the future. Learning about the path both of my parents had to take in order to obtain these things has been truly eye-opening for me and is what has helped me learn numerous life lessons that I have implemented into my philosophy for life. For instance, the importance of being thankful for what one has, putting maximum effort and determination to achieve one’s goals, and giving back so that others can do the same. I am convinced my parents’ story is one of inspiration, that demonstrates all these values.
Both of my parents were born in Mexico City; however, my dad grew up in Pachuca, Hidalgo for some time after the disastrous earthquake of 1985 struck. This was before he moved to the capital to attend the National Polytechnic University, which was a whole different journey. There, he studied mathematics and physics, and later went on to work for the Secretary of the Interior of the Mexican government where he met my mom.
Since she was younger, my mom always dreamt of coming to the United States, but she never thought about what the circumstances would or could be. She only knew she just had to come and see for herself what life was like here. After dating for about a year, my dad invited her to come to his sister’s wedding which was going to take place in Pomona, California. My mom was ecstatic about the idea and immediately began making plans and preparing for the trip. Unlike my mom though, it was not going to be my dad’s first time visiting, since his family was pretty much established there already. Initially, the plan was to stay with them for three days since that was the amount of vacation time my mom was given. Little did they both know, those three days were to become a much longer period.
When the day finally came for my mom to start her journey to the United States, my dad took her to the airport in Mexico City to take a flight to Tijuana, Baja California where she would meet up with some friends from work who were on a business trip there and who would be in charge of driving her across the border line to later meet up with some family friends of my dad’s side of the family. She describes her emotions that day to have been all over the place because she was excited to finally achieve her dream of going to the United States, but tremendously nervous to meet my dad’s family for the first time. Especially nerve wracking was the fact that she was going to be alone during that moment since my dad was scheduled to arrive the morning of the wedding due to some responsibilities at work. She was essentially putting all her trust in strangers whom she had never met nor talked to prior to this adventure, and that was an exceptionally intimidating idea.
Once in the hands of the family friends who would make the drive from San Diego to L.A. County, she was relieved with the fact that they were extremely warm and kind. They were very excited for her first visit to the States and told her all about how different life was there compared to the lives they led in Mexico. Similarly, my dad’s family, his three sisters, five brothers and mom were just as welcoming and benign toward her. They were also overly thrilled to meet their brother’s/son’s girlfriend for the first time.
The next day, my dad arrived early in the morning, and they attended the beautiful and iconic wedding that everyone had been looking forward to. During the longevity of the event, the bride, who was my aunt, was sad over my parents having to leave the next day, so she kept insisting that they stay permanently. She raised the points that here, they would have access to much better career opportunities and a much better way of living in general. Initially, my parents played it off as too crazy of an idea, but the next day my mom declared to my dad she was going to stay. My dad was understandably shocked and surprised, especially with the comment that she would not force him to stay if he did not want to. Romantically, however, and after a plentiful amount of consideration and thought to what they were going to be leaving behind, he agreed to start a new life there as well and take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity. In order to ensure that everything was done in an official manner though, he had to return to Mexico to follow through with the formal procedures at work and to let my maternal grandma know what was happening.
While my dad was busy with completing immigration procedures necessary to be able to establish themselves in the United States, my mom moved in with his whole family who lived in my aunt’s house. It was a very petite home with an unusually large and grassy backyard. There were only three bedrooms, but the living room and garage were also being used as rooms for people to stay in. Viewing this from my perspective, it is a clear exemplification of how helping one another out can bear fruit to wonderful and prosperous achievements of each other’s goals in the long run. My aunt also got her a job at a lamp manufacturer, and my dad a job at a barber shop once he was back from Mexico. A complete change of scenery from the extravagant government offices they previously worked at, there, began the rollercoaster of experiences and obstacles to undergo before finally achieving their “American Dream.”
Starting up at these jobs, my parents were determined to not let themselves be brought down by any difficult moments or breakdowns, and simply focus on striving for what it was they wanted to achieve by staying in the United States the moment they made that significant decision. At the lamp factory my mom started at, she worked alongside many hard-working women who were also living under similar circumstances and placing their efforts towards a better life for themselves and their families. They would put together lamps and pack them up in their boxes before sending them out to the stores. Contrary to my aunt and the rest of the family’s attitude, the women who worked there were not as welcoming or kind to their coworkers; there was specifically a small clique who would purposely stick together and behave unsupportively and simply contemptibly. Their conduct ranged from saying irrelevant, but hurtful insults in front of who they were talking about and saying judgmental comments during pretty much the entirety of the workday. She details that dealing with the emotional toll of the fact that she abruptly left her family in Mexico, as well as simultaneously putting up with the mean behavior of these women was an immensely hard, emotional hit that sometimes made her cry before going to work. It also made her feel guilty for dragging my dad into the circumstances he was now under working in a barber shop, away from the career he had begun creating for himself back in Mexico.
However, my mom recalls one specific event that helped remind her of who she was and about how fortunate she was to be in America, regardless of what these women were trying to convey by immaturely behaving in that manner. One of the managers had come into the room where everyone was usually stationed at and asked if there was anyone who could translate from Spanish to English. Seeing that no one was willing to try, my mom volunteered, even though her English was not the best at the time. The translation had to do with something regarding making a hole in one of the parts of the lamp, but instead of saying “hole,” my mom said “perforation.” After she had made her attempt, the clique of women snickered among themselves and vocally made fun of her for not saying “hole.” They ended up getting reprimanded for their behavior by the manager who had asked for help, and this event taught my mom to be stronger and to not give importance to people like that again.
After a while of both of my parents working hard in jobs they would have never imagined to be in, my mom stopped working because she became pregnant with me. Soon after, my dad also got a job in Hollywood which was of his area of expertise and was back on track in furthering his career. This also allowed for them to be able to move out of my aunt’s house and get their own apartment. Everything began to only go up from there, and fortunately continues to do so to this day.
I am extremely proud of my roots and of the story of determination my parents carry with them. Growing up I have always tried to remain humble and aware of the power one has to achieve anything they aspire to because of the abundant number of times they’ve told me their accounts of what they went through and how they overcame them. I will continue to take their experiences with me in the future as I strive for my own objectives, and hope to help others in being able to obtain the same opportunities I have grown up with because of their exemplary perseverance.
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