My mom, Heidi grew up in Connecticut, and went to college in Philadelphia where she got her Bachelor's Degree in Marketing with a Minor in Textiles. She knew that she had family in California but she had never met them before. They offered to let her stay at their Hollywood Hills home while she did a summer internship in Los Angeles her junior and senior year of college.  During her internship, she worked in downtown Los Angeles as an assistant buyer at a buying consultant. After this, she knew she wanted to move to Los Angeles, so after graduation, she packed a bag and Fed EX’d some boxes and moved to West Hollywood, California to live with her cousin, Tracey, who she had never met before. After a month of living in California, she went to a Jewish fundraiser for Valley Beth Shalom to meet other professionals, and that’s where she met the man who would eventually become her brother in law. He set up my mom and dad on a blind date, and nine months later they were engaged. After they were married, they moved to Agoura Hills, bought a house, and soon after, my brother and I were born. My aunt married a man from San Francisco and they moved to our town, closely followed by my grandparents who wanted to be close to their daughters and grandchildren. My whole family is reunited again and living in the same city all because my mom followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles after college. 

– Rebecca Candioty

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant