Tamara's Story

Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God! I can't believe it's real! I'm finally arriving in Boston to live!

My mother died a year and a half ago. She was the person I loved most in the world--although she drove me crazy sometimes with her rules and trying to run my life!

I never knew my father; we didn't even talk about him. My older brother, Carlos, was like a father to me. He took care of me and my mother, well, the things my Mom didn't take care of. He is 13 years older than me and moved out when I was very young. Most of the time, we saw him at least once a week for dinner on Sunday. He would fix things around the house and my Mom would make his favorite food, antojitos.

Carlos was always nice to me and treated me fairly. He let me make up my own mind about things, the opposite of my mother, but he was not very huggy and kissy. Sometimes I liked that about my Mom.

He was in college, studying philosophy, when he met Maria. She had come to Mexico to study for six months at the university where Carlos was a student. I liked her a lot too, and so did my Mom. She became part of the family and came with Carlos whenever he visited. She was from the United States, the first American I ever met. She came back after she graduated to be with Carlos, when the U. S. wouldn't let him visit her there. She made a cake for my birthday--it was so good! We saw her almost every week, too, starting when I was only 7. My Mom said she made Carlos happy and she made him a better person, too. He studied more and got a job and didn't go out as much with his other friends.

Maria's family came to visit her in Mexico twice. They were really nice and lots of fun. They took Carlos on trips with them: to the beach, eating in restaurants, even staying in hotels. Carlos and Maria talked about them a lot. Maria's Dad is a professor at the University of Georgia. He and Carlos had long philosophical discussions, which is funny because her Dad doesn't speak Spanish, except for a few words. Carlos didn't speak much English, but he is learning. We got to meet them and we all got along well.

My Mom and I flew to Georgia for their wedding. Neither of us had been out of Mexico before or even on a plane. We were pretty nervous and excited to go. Maria's parents live in a really big house out in the country. Their city is much smaller than ours. We had our own room and bathroom. Maria and Carlos had theirs upstairs and there was one for her parents, too. Maria's sister stayed with her boyfriend, Kevin, and his parents, just down the road. Carlos and Kevin became good friends. Their house was big, too, and they had a hot tub. I was about 13 then.

The wedding at their church was beautiful and the party afterward was really fun. I had a new dress and got to walk down the aisle. Maria's little cousin, Lidet, was the flower girl. She looked beautiful and did a great job spreading petals. There was lots of singing and talking, mostly in English. Maria's Mom and her aunts sang one of Carlos's favorite songs, "What a Wonderful World." I didn't understand all of the words, but everyone was very happy. People took lots of pictures of all of us.

Maria had many friends from her college and some of Carlos's friends from Mexico came too. When Maria and Carlos went on their honeymoon, Mom and I stayed with Maria's parents for a few days. One day we went and picked buckets full of strawberries. We ate them every day, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They were so good. We put some in the freezer for later, too.

The four of us flew back to Mexico after the honeymoon. The next year, they moved to the United States. We missed them a lot. We still got together with my aunts and grandparents, but it wasn't the same without Carlos and Maria. We talked to them sometimes on the computer.

At first, they lived in Maria's hometown, working to save money. Carlos did yard work, cleaning, and painted houses. He is very smart and had graduated from college, but he couldn't get a real job until he got a work permit from the U.S. government.

In the fall, they moved to Boston. Maria wanted to be a lawyer and help people from Mexico. That was why she had come to study there in the beginning, before she met Carlos. There are many Mexicans in the United States and if they are accused of a crime, they need a lawyer they can speak to in Spanish. Maria and Carlos visited Washington and New York, but they liked Boston best, so that is where she was going to law school.

My brother loved Boston. He took long walks and arranged everything in the apartment just right. He found free furniture for them, and then had to get it up the four flights of stairs! He couldn't get a job until his work permit was approved. Maria had relatives there and friends from college that he got to know. They had dinner parties and he drove to Georgia with one of them to get the dog, Osa, that had moved with them from Mexico. Maria's family visited them at Thanksgiving time and they all stayed in the apartment together before driving to visit Maria's grandmother and aunts and cousins.

At Christmas time, when Maria's classes were finished, they flew to Georgia to visit Maria's family. They had fun. My Mom and I were visiting my grandparents, too, when my Mom got sick. The day after Christmas, I woke up and she wasn't breathing or moving. The ambulance came and took her to the hospital.  They got her breathing through a tube. I was so sad and frightened. Carlos flew home to Mexico from Georgia. and was at the hospital when she woke up.

My poor Mama! She was so scared. She didn't want to die and she felt like she couldn't breathe. Carlos stayed in the hospital with her most of the time. I didn't want to go to school, but they really wanted me to. She was getting better, but then she got pneumonia. One day, she just stopped breathing. It was terrible. Maria came from Boston for the funeral. She and Carlos made the arrangements and took care of things. We were all so sad, we couldn't do anything but cry. I was 14 years old.

Maria went back to school after a week, but Carlos stayed with me in our house. I didn't like going to school, but staying home wasn't much fun either. Carlos started getting rid of the furniture; we didn't even have a stove! He talked to me and our grandparents and we all decided that I should live with him and Maria in Boston. Carlos arranged to have a lawyer go to court and ask for him to be my guardian. He applied for some money from the government because my Mom worked for them before she died. He tried to sell the house, but that didn't work out.

Carlos flew back to Boston for a little while in April to get his green card. He had to answer lots of questions and Maria couldn't help him. One of her friends interpreted the questions into Spanish for him and his answers into English. Then he came home and got a job in Mexico, so he could take care of me. It took a long time to get the money from the government.

They got another lawyer to help them apply for me to come to the United States, but it took almost a year before they said yes. I had to go to Mexico City (with Carlos, of course). It is five hours on the bus from where I lived. I had to answer questions and they took my fingerprints. Two days later, I left my friends and relatives. Maria met us in the airport. She wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any problems with my permit to come to the U.S. (my visa). I was sad to leave and excited for my new life.

Now I am here, I will make new friends and work hard in school and to learn English. I am glad to be with Maria. She takes care of me. I am learning to cook! I miss Carlos. He is still trying to take care of everything in Mexico and he has a job there. I hope he will come soon. Maria misses him too. I miss my dog, but I like their dog Osa, too. Maybe one day I will go back to visit Mexico and my friends and relatives, but I hope I can live here for the rest of my life. I love my new country!

Monday morning

All over the world, people are waking up and rushing around, getting ready for work, being unhappy that this is Monday morning. For me, however, this is the first day of my weekend. I am sore from working for the last few days and looking forward to some relaxation. I bake cookies and sell them at farmers' markets on the weekend.