D.P.G.G. Las Lagrimas Caen Sobre Cielo
When I was 4 years old, my mom left me with my grandmother in Guatemala so that she could come to the US to work. I was just looking at my mom staring at her while she was packing her stuff to leave. I didn’t understand where she was going that day because I was too young. I only understood that I was sad because I really wanted to be with my mom and that I really loved her a lot. I didn’t understand that she had to leave because she wanted to protect our family so that we could have a better life. When she left she lied and told us that she would be back in like three days so that it wouldn’t be so hard to leave us. My brother and I were sad and told her not to leave us for long, and she said that she loved us and wouldn’t leave us. A few days later, my grandmother explained, “Mija, your parents won’t be back for a long time. Your mother didn’t tell you that she was going to USA because she didn’t want you to get sad.” I didn’t want my mom to leave, but she had to go to help us to have a better life. She needed to get money, to work hard, to protect her family. I didn’t understand all that when I was like when I got bigger.
When I was like 5 years old, my grandmother put me in school to learn things, but I didn’t want to go because I wanted my mom to drop me off at school. I was crying a lot and I was like where is my mom? I really need her right now. I want her to be at home to hug me to kiss me. I was crying a lot and I didn’t want to go to school, but the teacher said don’t worry everything is going to be okay. I missed school a lot because all I could think about was my mom because I really wanted her with me. Even my friends at school didn’t like me because I didn’t play with them a lot because I always thinking about my mom. One of my friends got mad at me for no reason and I got mad at him too and we got into a fight and I threw a rock at him. He started crying really hard, so my teacher called my grandma and I got into a lot of trouble. My life was really hard without my mom, without her kissing me, laughing with me, playing games with me I really missed her a lot. When I was sick, my grandmother took care of me and gave me medicine, and I love my grandma, but it’s not the same as my mom.
When I was like 6 years I came here to the US for the first time to be with my mom. It was hard because she was different because I had been apart from her for so long. I didn’t even call her “Mom” when I saw her again because I hadn’t seen her for 3 years. When I walked in the front of the door, my mom looked at me and I felt really scared because I thought that she was like a stranger. I also had a new little sister and a new little brother, so there were a lot of changes all at once, and it was very difficult. My mom was really happy to see me, and she gave me a hug and a kiss, but I was still scared because I didn’t really know her anymore. My mom starting talking to me like “Hey, let’s go buy some new clothes because you look dirty. You have been wearing those clothes since Guatemala.” I didn’t answer her because I still felt like I was talking to a stranger. I went running to the bathroom crying.
I didn’t call her Mom for almost a month because it felt strange. Then, my mom started telling me her story about why she came here to the US and left me and my brother behind. She told me how much she loved me every day and told me her story about why she left me three years ago, so I started to trust her again. We spent more time together and became closer, and I began to think of her as my mother again. Now that I’m older, I appreciate everything that my mom did for me, and I understand why she had to leave. I am happy that I am close with my mom now and that my family is together in the US where it is safe and we can take care of each other.
