My mom had a dream of going to the United States.  When she arrived, she worked to pay off her debt for a long time. She met a very important person for her who was my father. As time went by, my father did want to take all the responsibility so my mother didn’t have to work anymore. He works in construction like a normal worker and he wanted to improve himself more every day and he always carried a small keychain that was a shoe with him.  He carried tis keychain everywhere he went for over 12 years.  Years went by and he surpassed himself more and more and he left the company he worked for and created his own company with a partner who is his compadre today. The company grew more and more and more and more, and then it was bearing fruit and he was able to buy his first car, which was a Cadillac Escalade 2007. Then, after he bought his car, he was finally able to put the little shoe keychain on the rearview mirror - a place that he could see every day. My father told me this story when I came to this country and he told me that you always have to be a good person for your family. Sometimes we celebrate some traditional Ecuadorian parades so we put it as a type of cloth that covers the car so that the public can see it, and the smile that my father has when he sees his car is unique, although the car is already old and he still takes care of it as if it were the first day he bought it.

– JP

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant