My father immigrated to the United States from Greece at the age of 18. He grew up in a small village in Greece, and his family was poor. The furthest level of education he has is up to the 6th grade. He was forced to stop school and work at such a young age so he can help provide for his parents and three siblings. He had many different jobs growing up such as selling bread. He would go home and give his earnings to his father and in return would receive one penny. His sister was the first one to migrate to the U.S. and she went by herself. After my father realized that he didn’t want to live the way he was living and that he would have many opportunities if he moved to the U.S., he left. He came to this country with very little money and started to work. He barely spoke any English and learned as much as he could with his encounters with other people. He started to work different construction jobs and would take a long bus ride to the Bronx every day. My father has since established his own business and is a contractor. My mom was born and raised in the U.S. and never had to migrate. I definitely believe that the fact that my father is an immigrant has heavily impacted the way I was raised. Not a week goes by without my father reminding me how thankful I should be for not having to go through what he did. The key in the photo is the key to my house which my father built from the ground up. Without migrating to the U.S., he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to start his own business as a contractor and build our home. 

– christinapaxinos

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