English 252
Instructor: Ms. Young- Manning
My Journey to California
Growing up separated from my father was a difficult task for my mother with me and my younger sister to take care of and raise by herself. My dad at the time was living in California by himself providing for his wife and daughters in Guadalajara, Mexico. I guess he missed most of our childhood, but like any hardworking father, he knew providing was more important. When my parents were young and dating, they decided to migrate to California in search of a better future. There my parents got married and conceived me. Once I was born, like most new mothers, she started getting homesick. My father clearly understood her, and they both agreed to at least see each other every year. Once my mother was back in Mexico with her mother and me as a newborn, my father couldn’t wait to go back and spend time with us.
That same winter of 1992 my father arrived in Mexico and stayed all winter long with us. By the time my father returned to California, my mother had great news. She was pregnant again! It was a big surprise for both. He was happy I was going to be a big sister. My mother says they both kept in contact by letters and over the phone. As time passed by I started kindergarten in the fall of 1997. I was a big sister of a one and a half-year-old little girl. When I started elementary school, my sister started kindergarten. Time passed by, and my dad would still visit every winter of every year. By the time I was in fourth grade, my father decided it was time for all of us to finally live together like a normal family. He submitted legal paper work, and this was about a one year process.
I was ten years old and my younger sister eight at the time we were excited to finally go to California. My sister and I would fantasize about how the streets and houses would be, how we would go to Disneyland, how we would learn the English language and make new friends. It was all a dream for us that year, but it seemed forever. My dad would call and promise he would take us to see many different things. That made us even more anxious, but sad because we would be leaving all of our cousins our age with whom we grew up and cared for as our brothers and sisters. That was the hardest thing for my sister and me to leave behind.
Finally, the day came when we were on our way to California; we were ready to start a new life with both our parents together in a new home and new environment. Our first day in the United States was nothing like I imagined. At the age of ten I wanted to see big buildings everywhere, big beautiful mansions in a typical neighborhood. All I saw was a quiet and small town in a neighborhood, with kids with blonde hair playing in their front yards with lemonade stands, and little girls my age having picnics and playing Barbie’s. This was something I had never seen because we don’t have front yards with grass in Mexico. Even though it was nothing like I had imagined, I did see a new world of people and culture. I was excited to meet all those kids.
My father right away enrolled us in school and was specific to the school principal not to place us in a Spanish speaking class, simply because all he wanted from us was to learn the language as soon as possible. To this day I thank my father for making that decision. My sister and I spoke and comprehended the language in less than six months. Since it was the summer of 2001 when we had arrived, everything was still really cheap. He would give us five dollars each, and he would take us to the nearest liquor store to buy ice cream and chips, the famous “hot Cheetos” which he introduced us to. My mother hates him for that because we haven’t stopped eating them since then.
My father also introduced us to his neighbors’ kids. He walked us to their front lawns when they were outside and proudly said these are my two daughters I have been telling you guys about. Immediately, the kids my age were excited to ask us about Mexico and didn’t hesitate to show us everything there was to know about their life styles here. I have to say it felt awkward going out to restaurants with all the family together, with our father trying to get us in trouble when we wouldn’t eat our food or when my sister and I would fight. I just didn’t think he had to do it since my mom had always been the one disciplining us. However, the move seemed overall to relieve my mom. She seemed really happy and excited when she started buying supplies for the house. I guess she was excited to finally cook for the whole family.
It has been more than fifteen years since that summer of 2001. My world and life have changed for the better. We now have a twelve-year-old brother who has never been to Mexico. And I can’t wait to go back all together as a family and show him what our childhood was like and where we once grew up without a father figure for several months every year. My sister and I have explored California from top to bottom, including Disneyland. Even today we continue to visit every tourist site on the lovely West Coast. My sister and I also try to go back to Mexico and visit our loved ones once a year, hoping one day they can all be here with us. I now realize having the opportunity to have been able to find a home in the heart of California is a blessing, and it is only the beginning of my new life in the States.