My Grandfather’s Gold Pendant My mother’s family migrated to New York from El Salvador in 1981. They left at the start of a brutal twelve year Civil War. My family was well off in El Salvador. He was in the construction business and designed properties himself. People who visited in the 60s and 70s always admired them. A well off American actually offered my grandfather a position at his construction agency in New York. My grandfather took the opportunity to have the chance to move his family away from the violence of the war. The boys in the family had already crossed the border in order to escape being drafted. My grandfather only had my mom who still lived with them. They got travel visas while my grandfather was able to attain a work visa. My grandparents stayed in New York until 1991. My mother over stayed her visa and eventually got married. My grandfather loved his boss who gave him the opportunity to come to New York. But, he hated living here. He hated the weather, fast paced life and crowds. He gifted my grandfather a gold chain with an anchor medallion. It was one of his prized possessions in which he gained during his time in New York. He gave it to my mom the day he went back home. He never returned to the U.S. again.

– Margarita Cintron

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