My father came to this country in 1986 to escape extreme poverty and communism  in modern day Kosovo. My father was extremely close with his family, including his siblings, nephews, and nieces. He lived with all of them and their families in the same apartment in Pristina, Kosovo. My father decided it was necessary to come to America to help his family in Kosovo and to escape the communism in formerly known as Yugoslavia. My father realized how difficult it is to assimilate to the American culture and began to feel homesick as he had no family in the New York. My father sent his family money to his family so they could move out of that small apartment. As they built a house with the money sent, they knew my father was feeling homesick, so they sent him VHS tapes of the family and the new house. This would make my father feel so good and would make his day. Every now and then we would watch the tapes, and my father would reminisce and tell us old stories about him and his siblings. He would tell us the difficulties of not knowing English, the people, or even the streets. He would tell us how scared he was when he left the airport; everyone was in a hurry and did not even acknowledge other people. He would always contemplate going back, however, these VHS tapes motivated and helped him reinforce his original goal of sending money to his family.

– Malsor H.

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