From Rags to Riches

“From Rags to Riches”

My father faced some harsh times as a child in Mexico such as not having much medicine for sicknesses, not having a school, and not having any job opportunities. His Dad only wanted the best for him. So when my dad was about 11 years old his dad decided to go to the United States to get a job with his brother. My father was from an area that did not have a public educational system and it was very poor. My father wanted an opportunity to work for money and to improve his life a little bit.

In 1971 my father was 17 years old he decided that he wanted to come to the United States and live with his dad and uncle in Aurora, IL. He did not want to wait until he was 18 because it would take a long time to get his Green Card. He took a bus from his hometown Tepehuanes, Durango all the way to a city called Ciudad Juarez, which is right before the border of the United States and Mexico. It was a 16-hour ride for him since the roads over there are very curvy because of the mountains. Also the roads aren’t of high quality. When he arrived there he took a taxi across the border into El Paso, Texas. El Paso is where he took a plane to O’Hare Airport in Chicago. My grandpa picked him up. He quickly noticed America was full of work. He noticed how advanced the United States was and the quality of the streets, buildings, and cars. It was also the first time he sawsnow since he came in January. It was a huge change, but he was very excited and wanted to make money.

My grandpa is who brought him to the United States. He sent an application for my father so he can come and work to make money. My Grandpa worked in a factory in Aurora. When my dad arrived he immediately found a job in Lombard where they make boxes of cardboard. There he made $2.25 cents an hour! He started at 7:00 AM until 3:30 PM. Luckily gas prices weren’t as high as there are now or else my dad would have really struggled with money. He usually got a ride from his cousin who worked in the same factory as him. My cousin is the person who found my dad that job. Speaking of money my dad only had enough money to get him the border, the taxi across the border, for food and the airplane ticket to Chicago. He had only brought one briefcase, which contained only 5 pairs of pants, a couple of shoes, and one pair of shoes. He stayed in a house with my grandpa in Aurora.

Racism and prejudice is one thing my father did experience quite a lot. He had a couple incidents where he noticed it. On airplane to Chicago on the airplane he had just gotten on the plane and noticed that the security guards were checking a lot more Latinos and African Americans then whites. Then after that a Latino greeted my dad and they began to talk. They were talking only a short time when the flight attendant told the Latino my dad was talking to