An Amazing Sacrifice

I just have to say how much I love these people. They are my parents. The ones that brought me into this world. The ones that made great sacrifices to raise their kids in a free country. And on that note, I will now tell about their adventure in coming to this country(this will be lengthy, but it's mainly for my own documenting purposes, so...)...

In November 1970, the people elected the Marxist-Socialist Salvador Allende as their new president. Allende was a big supporter of the Communist party in Chile. My father was working for the railroad at the time and he was being pressured into joining the Communist Party. Because he was not a member of the Party his wages were lowered substantially. It became apparent quite quickly that if he did join the Party his life would be a lot easier.

However, because he didn't share the same views as the Party it was obvious to him that joining was not an option; his main concern was to take care of his family. At the time my siblings were 8, 11, and 12.

At work he had a friend that spoke to him of his brother-in-law who lived in America, he was an attorney and he was someone who could help him get to the states and get him a job as well if my dad wished. When he talked it over with my mom she was shocked initially, but then they both agreed that it was the only way. Things had gotten pretty difficult for them since the take over. Things as simple as shopping became a huge inconvenience in that if you were not a member of the Party you didn't possess the special pink card that allowed you to buy anything you wanted. My mother could only buy certain things like sugar and flour in rations and she wasn't allowed to buy a whole chicken anymore like she would have in the past. When the kids needed shoes she wasn't permitted to go and pick some out for them. She was given any random pair of shoes; most of the time they were the wrong size and they were not even a child's shoe but an adult's.

Here are some of the events that transpired in their adventure in coming to the United States:

• My father went to the Chilean Consulate to ask for a working Visa to come to the U.S., but at the time Nixon had changed the immigration laws making it more difficult to receive a working Visa. The consul told him that he could give him a tourist Visa only and that he shouldn't tell anyone that he had a job waiting for him there but that he was only interested in traveling. He could then wait for his working visa to process and then work legally.
• In March of 1971 my dad left Chile on a Friday, arrived on a Saturday, and went to work the following Monday at a company called Ecko.
  
• My mother went to speak with a judge for minors since there was a law that prohibited a single parent to take the children out of the country. It would have been fine if my parents, together, took them to the U.S., but not without the other parent. My mom had taken my brother who was 11 at the time with her to this interview. My mom explained to the lady judge that my dad was working in the U.S. and that she wished to take the children with her. The judge adamantly told her that the children were the future of Chile and that she would not permit them to leave. My brother, overcome by this news, threw himself at the judge's feet and pleaded with her that he and his siblings missed their father so much and to please give them permission to go live with him. This must have softened her heart because she very abruptly signed some forms and threw them at my mother who then flew to the post office to get them notarized before the judge could change her mind.
• My mother took the kids to get their pictures taken for their passports, but when she went to pick them up the photographer had disappeared with her money. She went and got them taken again.
• Two weeks before she was to leave for the U.S. there was a tremendous earthquake that registered over 7 on the Richter scale. Many people had lost their homes and so the schools had been shut down to provide shelter for them.
• Five months after my father leaving, my mom and my brother and 2 sisters left Chile (not to return until much later in their adult lives). They had made arrangements to fly into Mexico and stay with a family who was the aunt and uncle to a mechanic friend of my dad's. They stayed there with the hospitable couple for about 8 days. In the meantime, the mechanic friend was trying to find a vehicle to drive out of Tucson to Chicago.
  
• While in Mexico, my mom, went to see the Mexican Consulate to get permission to cross into the United States. My mom had told the consul that my father was back in Chile and that she and the children were just there to visit for a short period. The consul threatened my mom that if she were lying about this and that if she found out that my father was working in the U.S. she would have them all deported and that they would never set foot on U.S. soil ever again. By the Lord's tender mercy when the consul called Chile's consul he told her that my father had indeed applied for a Visa but then had never shown up to receive it and that he was in Chile working. My mom was given permission to come to the U.S.
• My mom, brother, and sisters flew to Tucson Arizona where they were to meet up with the mechanic friend. In Tucson she was given a Visa to stay for 3 months. Outside of the airport they all got into a taxi that would take them to their hotel (a Ramada Inn), that was when she realized that she didn't have the yellow envelope containing her visas. The taxi driver very kindly told her not to worry and that he would wait for her while she went to find the envelope. She didn't think twice in leaving her children with a perfect stranger and ran back inside to find the envelope. Once again, a miracle, the agent who had given them to her in the first place had them in his possession and returned them back to her. As she ran back outside the horror of her leaving her children set in, but the angelic taxi driver and her kids were all waiting for her right where she had left them!
• My mom and the kids stayed at the Ramada for 3 days before the mechanic friend showed up with the car that would take them to Chicago where my dad was living and was anxiously waiting for them. He had told my dad that he would be using a station wagon that belonged to a friend of his, but it turns out that he wasn't able to get that and ended up with a rickety old convertible instead. They drove out of Tucson.
• The mechanic had decided that it was much more comfortable driving with the top down considering the scorching heat. However in Oklahoma they were met by a tornado! This horrified my mom and the kids since they had never seen a dark funnel cloud in their lives and they had just survived a terrible earthquake 2 weeks before. A huge hailstorm came and they were not able to get the top back up so the mechanic gave my mom a large piece of vinyl to put over them; which helped but did not block out the hail or the cold completely.
• In Wichita Kansas the convertible gave up the ghost and the mechanic bought them all plane tickets to Chicago where my dad was waiting for them. They had a happy reunion. My dad was renting an apartment and had the fridge completely stocked for his little family who he had missed so much.

I sometimes think about that amazing journey and the great sacrifices my family made to come here and I am awed at their resilience. My parents gave up so much...their family, the prospects of buying a new home with an ocean view, their friends, their native country. Then I think of my sister Vivi, and my sister Marci and my brother Pato, and I think about their lives being turned upside down...all that they had called home they had to say goodbye to forever...their friendships and their security with their language and the only place they had ever known.

My parents started to take English classes. I admire them so much for that because they knew they had made the decision to live here and they did it full-heartedly; immersing themselves in the language as well. I remember going with them to their citizenship courses; which they later did receive.

I will forever be grateful to my parents for acting on that decision and for being willing to make every sacrifice to make it happen. I will always be grateful that they were put here on this earth to be MY parents and they've shown me unconditional love in the face of my own decisions, even when they were not the best ones that I could have made.
I love you Mom and Dad!