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Nathallie Chavez Lynn M. Raymond February 2, 2014 Narrative

What Led Me Here Today

The story starts in Quertaro, Mexico, where a young, poor, boy, named Martin saw a rich, pretty, lady, named Carmen. Like any good love story he falls head over heels at first sight. The very next day he walks to her house and asks her father for her hand in marriage. Now, Agapito Torres had a lot of land, he was considered one of the wealthiest men in town. Although he came from a long line of money, it never defined his character, he was a humble man, and he saw that Martin was a good man too. Carmen was to be married off to Martin, who she had never even seen. She laid eyes on him for the very first time on the steps at the front of the church before they wed. He knew exactly how beautiful she was, with dark skin, curly hair, short height, and brown eyes to match. She was a Mexican girl, through and through. However, she had no idea how handsome he was. He was tall, light skinned, blue eyes, with dirty blonde hair, he was clearly of Spanish blood. They were married till the day that they died, and through the years she gave him 9 children. One of those kids was my grandmother, Sara. The family would go to a small town called Tancoyol every summer because Martin had land there. My grandfather Sebastian Chavez lived in this town, after several summer of pursuing Sara they were married and also had 9 children. The youngest of those 9 children is my father, Jose Guadalupe Chavez. My fathers family was

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very poor, my grandfather barely made enough to put food on the table. At the age of 15 my father and one of his brothers decided to come to the United States in search of a better life. Since Tancoyol, Mexico is located south of Mexico they hitch hiked a majority of their journey in Mexico. Once they were closer to the U.S they began to walk, it was a hot summer at the time and they had very little water. They made it through the Rio Grande and ended up near Havana, Texas. Being the youngest of his family he had an incredible bond with his mother. In the U.S. he was everything he was in Mexico; poor and tired, except now he was lonely too. Loneliness pained him as much as hunger, he cried every night for months longing to see his mother again. He gave in and returned to Mexico not long after. He tried again a few years later; he stayed in McAllen, Texas where my mother, Yadira Chavez lived. They might have crossed paths a million times but they didnt meet in Texas. My mother was born in Tamaulipas, Mexico; she wasnt too far from the border. My grandmother was a single mom to 5 children; she worked in the U.S to provide for them. One day, my uncle who was 12, and his best friend were going cross the border just to see if they could do it. My mother who was at the time 8 years old wanted to join too. Of course the boys refused, but she insisted and followed them. They did make it to Texas to the restaurant where my grandmother was working at the time. She was furious at first but their bravery and knack for adventure gave her an idea, why didnt they just all stay in the U.S? That very day she went back home and got the other 3 of her kids and moved in with her brother in Texas. My parents didnt meet until they were in North Carolina. My uncle from my mothers side had moved to NC to work, and so had my father. My mother went to NC with her brother

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and met my dad at a gas station. My dad was with some of his work friends and my mom was with some of her guy friends. According to my dad, my moms friends started saying things to his friends, according to my mom; my dads friends were the ones picking the fight. However the story really went, it was during that argument that they saw each other for the first time. Later on, through mutual friends, and random encounters, they started dating, and married 3 months later. They were only 19. My parents lived better together than they had when they were growing up. My mother was already fluent in English and had finished high school. My father had worked in tobacco fields, strawberry fields, chicken factories, sock factories, and Wal-Mart. With the help of my mother he learned English fairly quickly, and she legalized him when they married. They had their first baby at 22, then their second at 24, then their 3rd at 25. Although they were living better than they had ever been, they still struggled to keep us comfortable. My dad and his brother decided to start a construction company. Through many hardship, failures, and 6 children later, Chavez Interiors succeeded. In the beginning of Chavez interiors my mother worked as a translator in a court house in Dobson, North Carolina, and then she sold houses. My parents tried their best to spend time with us during the years that they worked restlessly. My mother didnt become a stay at home mom till her 5th child. During those in between years, we were basically raised by my moms mom who lived with us, Nohemi Marroquin. She came to North Carolina to visit and ended up staying. My grandparents from my fathers side are still living; I never met my mom dads, they say he was in the army but he never reached out to his family. My grandma Nohemi passed away March 5, 2012, leaving 28 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren. When she brought all

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of her children to Texas she had went through the process of legalizing them. Unfortunately, something went wrong with the documentation of one of my uncles. The day he left to go back to Texas after my grandmothers funeral he was pulled over on the highway for speeding. He was put into jail for failure to provide any papers, and he was to wait 72 days for immigration to take him to Mexico. After 2 months of being in jail my mother found my grandmothers birth certificate. She noticed in the certificate there was a number, after presenting the birth certificate to my uncles lawyer they discovered that my grandmother was actually full blooded American Indian. The lawyer found a law that protects the children of Native Americans, my uncle was immediately released. Our family story is a story of great struggle, failures, success, surprises, and a lot of hard work. Those twists and turns, decisions, and obstacles that my family faced led me here today.