Lately, there has been an over flow of political jargon.  It’s hard not to get fired up with the over flow of information.  We are definitely living in historical times.  Not really sure how it will all end up, so I put my trust in God first of all.  But there is one thing that I can’t deny– that I am a daughter of immigrants.  Immigrants-human beings, who heard that there was a possibility of  a better life.  They left the familiar with only HOPE– Hope of opportunity- Hope of a better life-in hopes of a good job.  And this job they were looking for wasn’t to gain riches for personal indulgement.  It was a job for survival.  Not just their survival, but that of their families.

I am proud to say that my parents worked very hard, like a lot of immigrants.  My dad was always an exemplary employee, foreman and business man and my mom a proud owner of her own thriving beauty salon.  The day they became citizens of the United States of America, my dad shed a tear during the National Anthem (A man I have never seen cry.).  He had always been a proud Mexican, but that day I believe he was thankful for the flag that had given him the opportunity to help his family when he first left his beloved country and now was allowing his children to do even greater things than he had been able to.

My mom was never scared to work-whether it was in the fields or in a high-class beauty salon.  Today, I am grateful for her sacrifice, hard work, endurance and her life.

Mom, know that what you did in this life for others and myself have not gone unnoticed.  And even if those efforts appear to have been forgotten, I am living proof and a walking testament of all  your sacrifice and all you went through so that your children could have a future with hope and endless possibilities.  You are a true example of strength, endurance and perseverance.

May health, laughter, joy and family be multiplied in this year. Feliz Cumpleaños.  Que te la pases muy de pelicula!

Silvia