A Great Hombre
Last semester in class, we were taught the heroes journey, a path a hero takes to fulfill their journey. This is my grandfather's heroic journey from leaving everything he ever knew and took the risk to come to a new country and make something of himself for his family.
(I wanted to get the story right, so I interviewed my father and my grandfather for this. )
Equal opportunity for all. This is what America promised, it promised more job opportunities and a better quality fo life. This is why my grandfather immigrated from Lima, Peru to the United States. Since he was a young man, he had to help provide for his family. His mother was widowed at a young age and she couldn't support him or his siblings. He started working at a factory at the age of 10, he was never forced to work, he took it upon himself to do so, because he did'nt want his family to suffer. My grandfather being just a child, got paid less than the other men he worked with. he had to take multiple jobs to make ends meet. Despite physical exhaustion from working all day and night, he pushed through and continued working. He couldn't continue his education through because he had no time due to his long work says. He put aside any academic dreams he had for himself an continued working. His hard work has been passed down for generations and he has devoted his life to pass this down to his children and so on.
Years and years later my grandfather got married to my grandmother and they had 4 children. He needed to work to support his family, but money was losing its value. When my grandfather immigrated here, he came because of the finical instability in his country, Peru. This forced him to look north who ultimately landed him here in the United States of America. His call for action was he looked back at his past and didn't want that for his kids. He didn't want them to put aside there hopes and dreams because of not having enough food. He crossed the first threshold, when he got a plane and arrived in Newark New Jersey, there was no going back. He was in the unknown land. He immigrated leaving behind his children and wife for 5 years until he could get their papers so they could come as legal residents of the United States. He arrived in America and it was a place vastly different than Peru. He got paid more, and was able to rent an apartment. He would make money from working and send it back to his family in Peru and was able to support them event though they were so far away. My grandfather became depressed because he had no family here in the states and would cry missing his family. His road of trials, was making enough money to send to his family. He couldn't keep a steady job, so he kept going between jobs. After 5 years of hard work, he achieved the papers and enough money to get his entire family to come to the United states. This was the ultimate boon, he achieved his goal or bringing his family over to America, an escaped poverty.
My grandfather knows the value of hard work and never giving up. Although his path was filled with adversity and hardship, he knew his end goal was to give his children a better life than he had. And that is what he did. All four of his children graduated high school, two of them began their own business and the other two attended trade schools. Its because of my grandfather that I have this opportunity to get this wonderful education. It was has sacrifice of leaving behind everything he knew, leaving behind his home, and family that was the reason he could forge a path to success that future generations such as myself can follow without the obstacles he faced. My grandfather to this day, still sends money to the less fortunate in Peru because although he came out on the other end, he knew others weren't as fortunate. It's because of my grandfather's journey, that I am thankful everyday to be here in America and grateful I didn't have to live through what he did. It hurts me so much when people talk badly about immigrants, because they have no idea the hard work and determination it took for them to take the biggest risk of their life to leave everything behind. I am the daughter of two immigrants and I'm first generation American. I know how hard my family has worked so my sister and I could be this fortunate to live in this town and receive this education. Immigrants are my heroes, because they put their families above themselves. Some just think immigrants are stealing Americans jobs, but America is a country formed by immigrants by immigrants for immigrants. I am just as American as anybody else and I have my grandfather, Victor Manuel Albuquerque, to thank for giving me these opportunities. I am proud to be the granddaughter of this great hombre.
I think it's really sweet and thoughtful of you to consider your grandfather as a hero. I also admire how passionate you are of all of his accomplishments along with your parents' hardships. Many of us, teens/kids, don't really understand just how hard our ancestors work, and your blog post really changed my perspective on that topic. Great job Maia:)
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful tribute to your Grandfather and you are lucky to have him Ih ope you show this to him.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post. My mom was also an immigrant who left her country becuase they wouldn't allow her to become a doctor. And my dads side grandparents came because his country didn't value his work. I agree that many of us take our current situation for granted and don't understand the hard work of our ancestors.
ReplyDeleteI love how you wrote about your grandfather being a true hero to you.
ReplyDeleteYour grandfathers "Hero Journey" is truly inspiring. Telling others about your perspective and family is so brave and important, because otherwise most people won't know of the hardships, the hard work, and determination that are required in order to drop everything and move to a completely new country, and become successful. The challenges that immigrants have to overcome to support their families and give their children the best opportunities is extremely heroic. I love that you chose to share this with us!
ReplyDeleteI love how you consider your grandfather a hero, it really shows how appreciative of his journey you are.
ReplyDeleteI love how you wrote about your grandfather being your hero!
ReplyDeleteAlthough an immigrants tale of humble beginnings has been told countless times, it never ceases to amaze me the shared experiences many of our ancestors share. A lot of the time we forget the priviledge we've been bestowed from the backs of our forefathers, and am glad you decided to write about this.
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