Guyana is a third world country with very slow progress in modernization. In the years where my parents got married and lived there, my mother was always a stay at home mom since there weren't many jobs for women. She never worked and only looked after my brother and I, while my father went out to work to support the family. In those times, we all lived with my father's parents since they could not afford a home of their own. After a few years, my mother's father managed to bring her to New York where she worked two jobs which included working at McDonald's. Soon after, my father was able to join her, where he worked at Exxon.
At the time they both left us, my brother was still a baby and I was merely a toddler.To have our mother and father gone from us at such a young age was truly a devastating time. We stayed with our grandparents for around 8 years until they were ready to bring us to New York. 
Those were the first jobs they ever had when they arrived in New York. I will always remember the day they told us about their jobs and the strict conditions they lived with in order to finally bring their children to a place of hope. After years of working and saving enough money as possible, we were able to reunite as a family. 
This goes to show the drastic changes my family had to overcome upon arriving in New York. At the peak of my mother's life, where she did not know a single thing about working due to limited working conditions in Guyana, was forced to adapt, and learn how to work and survive in a completely different society where everyone and anyone can work. 

– LP

Relationship:  Im/migrant who arrived as a child Im/migrant who arrived as a child