Curiosity is such an interesting thing that has some people wondering whether it is good or bad. We’re always hearing sayings like curiosity killed the cat and what not but I myself think it’s a good thing. I myself have always been a curious person whether it be in school or at home. I’ve always been this way. My parents know it as well and have always fed my curiosity even if it ended up getting me into some trouble at times. Here is one momorie that I have very vividly due to its importance on the person I am today.

It was a hot summer day and my siblings were at school because they were for a lack of better words smarter than I was so they were in some fancy program and I remember being jealous of them. My parents would always have me learn something new those days i was at home so i had the bright idea to ask my parents why are we doing all this on a summer’s day where i should be going outside and having fun instead of having my nose in some book. So I started asking questions about where they were from seeing as I was getting bored of asking when dinner was going to be ready. I’ll start off with my mother first she told me about a life she once had where she came from a big family of eleven siblings all living under the same roof and how each one only had a few years of education until they had to drop out and help out the family seeing as it was their responsibility as children and also her being one of the eldest. She told me how the few years of school she did have she would go to work in the fields with her other siblings and earn some money then go home and take care of the livestock and if possible get some food in their bellies then do homework before it was time for bed, wash rinse and repeat. She would always tell me how lucky me and my sibling were to get a solid three meals a day and have both parents listen to us and not send us off to work. I asked if she still missed it and sh replied with yes and no because it was here where she has her new family me and my siblings and how she regrets not being able to be in most of my older brothers childhood how she was away from him for ten years before he was able to come to the united states. 

My father was a bit of a serious person on the outside but a big softie on the inside he always did everything with a smile. When I asked my father about his life he gave me some similarities that my mom did. He told me how he didnt finish school because of working and how sometimes he would be away from home for weeks at a time on jobs that were definitely not meant for a kid his age at the time. He always said he lived in different times and how Mexico will always be his home but he has a new one here in the United States. He was the second oldest of nine siblings who had been working since the age of seven and came to the United States when he was eighteen seeking work to help his family back home.I remember him telling me how getting here wasn’t easy but the hardest thing was finding a job. He told me of a story where he went and asked for work and he felt so ashamed when the manager who wanted to help him asked if he could show him some documents that looked more valid seeing as he was undocumented he had no other option and is the case for most immigrants who come into the country. He felt so ashamed and just put his head down and said no to the man who still wanted to help him out.  My dad always had plans on going back to Mexico and starting a family there but plans change when events line up for better or for worse. Him and my mother met by chance and that’s when they knew they were going to call America their home. 

During the making of this memoir i asked them a certain question that they both gave the same answer to and that was if they could go back and make different choices would they and they told me no. they said they wouldn’t trade the life they have right now for anything they have family here and my father said he left his life and family everything he knew at some point behind in mexico to give not himself a better life but that of his family. Same for my mother who is a woman of few words. They agreed that they’ve made the right choice in coming to America and staying, which they said again and again after every accomplishment that me or my siblings have had, good or bad. Now my sister is going to be the first one to graduate in our family and they couldn’t be more  proud.