Gaby and Ricardo Padilla: Immigrant Stories

My parents Ricardo and Gabby Padilla never thought that 36 years after being married at a church in Guadalajara they would live in the U.S. with their two daughters. My dad always says this phrase, it was one hell of a ride as he explains it was a difficult journey, but my mom with his side he knew everything would be okay. My dad grew up in Guadalajara his whole life but my mom lived in Hanley school when she was a baby. Life in Guadalajara for my dad was very hard since he was poor and lived in a two-room apartment. He could work with his two brothers every day in order to get food for his family and pay rent. My mom lived in Jalisco she would be like a house mom by working on chores, planting her mom's garden, caring for her dog. Jalisco was a ranch area so there was a lot of farms and animals around. When my parents got married they decided to go to America since both of my parents was starting a new life and later a family. First my dad knew his head as well as my mom that in order to come to the U.S. they needed their citizenship. After my friends got married they planned on getting them to come to the U.S. My dad had to leave my grandparents as well as my mom because they didn't like the idea of going to America with no money or a place to live on their own and preferred they lived in Mexico since they grew up there. My dad struggled with what he would do in America. For example, how is he gonna get a job? How much is rent? Will he even find a place? I was supposed to even talk about it to my mom. My dad was worried about getting the application to be a citizen. May 27, 1980 was the day my dad got his citizenship. Afterwards the most difficult part was packing for clothes, pictures, money, and some furniture. While getting to America with transportation my dad right away had to get a job quickly in order to pay rent and food. Today my dad got a job working as a gardener and my mom is a stay-at-home mom with my dad working everything by knowing it was worth it after having family to provide life today with my mom and dad because it was very good for them and they don't have a fear at all and not regret coming to America. My dad still works as a gardener and loves exploring downtown L.A. My mom is a house mom paying bills and working hard to provide me and my sister to eat. My mom is now more happy to live in the area near stores and a hospital and then in Jalisco where there was nothing, one store in each block. The advice my dad always tells me is don't give up because it's hard to keep on doing it because it's worth it at the end.