Both my parents used to live in Montenegro, Europe but in different towns. They migrated to the U.S. but that doesn’t necessarily mean that their lives were not difficult to live in, both of my parents were in poverty. My mom was the oldest so she had to take agency and help support her parents and her 6 other siblings at the time. Also my aunt (moms sister) came to Brooklyn after her so she could have a better lifestyle, she was very upset because she had to leave behind her 5 year old. But she worked her way up and she got her green card so she could come visit us. Both of my parents came for better opportunities, more jobs, better lifestyle, the country my mom used to live in was very poor and had bad conditions. Additionally it was a positive change for my parents but they still were very stressed. Coming into a new country without knowing the language or even knowing anyone is very stressful and scary. From my mother’s perspective she stated that she was scared because she left all of her siblings back in her country and she most likely had no one. However, my parents were resilient and fought through all of the challenges they had to face and eventually started their own family.

– SR

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