This red, beaten up, old book is my mom’s 15th birthday picture book, one of the few things she brought with her when she migrated to the US from her hometown of Sahuayo, Michoacán, Mexico.  My mother’s main reasons for migrating to the US were because my dad lived in the US and because of the better living conditions of the US compared to Mexico.  My dad essentially left his hometown in Mexico because of poverty and uncertain employment.  A pull factor that really influenced his decision of migrating to the US were increased wages and employment opportunities; knowing this, my father moved to the US.  Once he was financially stable he went back to Mexico and met my mother.  They then married a few years later after meeting each other.  However, Mexico wasn’t such a nice place to live in at the time, thus both my mom and dad decided that they would be better off living in the US rather than Mexico, which is why today we all live in the US.  My mother cherishes the book so much because it’s her way of remembering her old home in Mexico; a way of remembering her friends and family, and a way of remembering the cultures and traditions she grew up in that she loved so deeply.  This book holds captured moments of the most beautiful memories my mother has of Mexico.  All in all, it’s her way of remembering where she came from, and my way of recognizing the cultures that influenced the way in which I was raised. 

– Gabriel Vega

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant