What am I thankful for?
November 23, 2011
What Thanksgiving means to me. When my father decided to bring us to the United States with him, it was a dream that came true for me and the best decision that he has ever made. Life in Mexico was horrible, honestly.
When my dad was living with us, in Mexico, everyone respected us because my dad was very friendly, sociable, and serous at the same time. He was respected in the our neighborhood, We lived in a bad neighborhood and my dad will not let anyone mess with us. He is an ex-boxer, so no one wanted to mess with him. My dad knew how to fight the bad guys, but he always chose peace instead of fighting, but if someone would mess with my dad, he always gave them a chance to retract, but if that didn't happen, he would beat them up really bad. I saw my dad fight once and I felt sorry for the guy who pushed my father to fight. I remembered my daddy telling this to his attacker "you asked for it, remember? you asked, I told you back off:" My dad hated to fight, this is why he did not continue with his boxing career. He said that it hurt him physically and emotionally, so he dropped it when he was approached to go professional. Besides, He always said that he never liked that environment. He only did it as a hobby, but when people wanted to shape him for their own gains, my dad didn't like that; he did not sell himself for money, even though he needed it, he rather do other types of jobs that would give him peace of mind. Boxing was not his cup of tea, even though he was a good one. Through all his amateur boxing career, he retired undefeated. He had promoters chasing him, but he declined. I remember, as a child, playing with his boxing gear. There was picture of him posing with his boxing boots, shorts, a champion amateur belt, and boxing gloves; He was very handsome; that picture was lost when we moved away from Mexico. When my father left us to find fortune in the United States, all hell broke loose for my mother and us. My mother was a beautiful blond young woman, so she was harassed by most of the men in our neighborhood married, single you name it. My mom hated this and sometimes I will hear her cry in desperation, but she amounted the courage, as always, and tough that time out. She managed on her own and became tough and strong. My dad had to find his own way in the United States, so for a while he did not send any money to mom and we were without resources to survive. Sometimes there was nothing to eat and my grandmother, my dad's mom, will feed us bean tacos or, sometimes I would go to one of my aunts house and hang there until lunch so I could eat. Yes, we were the poor relatives, but I have to say that I had an aunt that knew how needy we were; she would ask me to stay with her and her children for a while. I called her aunt Nena. I would hang out with my cousins and sleep in their house, sometimes, when ever my mother would let me.
My dad was away from us for almost three years and during those years mom argued with him over the phone on their long distance calls that he was never going to get rid of her nor his children. My dad never had that intention, but my mother's paranoid mentality would get a hold of her and drove my dad crazy. My dad would not contact her for a while. My mom persistence and my dad love for his children brought us to the United States. This is what I am thankful for. Life in the United States has been better, much better than it was in Mexico. Here, there is always something to eat. Food is cheap, really!. Rammen noodles 25cents, bag of beans $1, corn tortillas $2.00? come one you can beat that. In Mexico, unfortunately when you are poor, food is not this cheap. No one can argue with me because, I experience starvation as a child in Mexico and every time that I go back, I see that things haven't changed. Poor people are still in need of one of the most basic things for survival, FOOD. Yes I am thankful for the opportunity that God gave me and my family to live in this wonderful country of the United States. I Love my homeland like anything else, but my best memories and my best life, I found here in the Unites States. THIS IS WHAT THANKS GIVING MEANS TO ME, THERE IS PLENTY OF FOOD EVEN WHEN THE FOOD BANK IS LOW, THERE IS STILL SOMETHING LEFT FOR SOMEBODY WHO NEEDS IT. I thank God that I always have something to eat, even if is just one egg or one corn tortilla, it's more that, probably some one else in this world is lacking. Some day, when ever the Lord grants me the opportunity to become rich, I would go back to my home town and get a warehouse and let people from my old neighborhood who don't have money to buy food, get it for free. Starvation pain is a killer specially for children who don't know why they don't have anything to eat. So, during this Thanksgiving holiday, when ever you begin to chew on that turkey leg or throw away the macaroni and cheese casserole that aunt Bertha made and you didn't like, think a bout the ones who would like to eat that macaroni and cheese that you think is bad. Think outside yourself every once and a while and say a prayer for those who don't have. God listens to every prayer; if it's just a prayer that you can say, say, it send it to heaven so someone can be blessed the same way as you are.HAPPY THANKS GIVING EVERYONE!
When my dad was living with us, in Mexico, everyone respected us because my dad was very friendly, sociable, and serous at the same time. He was respected in the our neighborhood, We lived in a bad neighborhood and my dad will not let anyone mess with us. He is an ex-boxer, so no one wanted to mess with him. My dad knew how to fight the bad guys, but he always chose peace instead of fighting, but if someone would mess with my dad, he always gave them a chance to retract, but if that didn't happen, he would beat them up really bad. I saw my dad fight once and I felt sorry for the guy who pushed my father to fight. I remembered my daddy telling this to his attacker "you asked for it, remember? you asked, I told you back off:" My dad hated to fight, this is why he did not continue with his boxing career. He said that it hurt him physically and emotionally, so he dropped it when he was approached to go professional. Besides, He always said that he never liked that environment. He only did it as a hobby, but when people wanted to shape him for their own gains, my dad didn't like that; he did not sell himself for money, even though he needed it, he rather do other types of jobs that would give him peace of mind. Boxing was not his cup of tea, even though he was a good one. Through all his amateur boxing career, he retired undefeated. He had promoters chasing him, but he declined. I remember, as a child, playing with his boxing gear. There was picture of him posing with his boxing boots, shorts, a champion amateur belt, and boxing gloves; He was very handsome; that picture was lost when we moved away from Mexico. When my father left us to find fortune in the United States, all hell broke loose for my mother and us. My mother was a beautiful blond young woman, so she was harassed by most of the men in our neighborhood married, single you name it. My mom hated this and sometimes I will hear her cry in desperation, but she amounted the courage, as always, and tough that time out. She managed on her own and became tough and strong. My dad had to find his own way in the United States, so for a while he did not send any money to mom and we were without resources to survive. Sometimes there was nothing to eat and my grandmother, my dad's mom, will feed us bean tacos or, sometimes I would go to one of my aunts house and hang there until lunch so I could eat. Yes, we were the poor relatives, but I have to say that I had an aunt that knew how needy we were; she would ask me to stay with her and her children for a while. I called her aunt Nena. I would hang out with my cousins and sleep in their house, sometimes, when ever my mother would let me.
My dad was away from us for almost three years and during those years mom argued with him over the phone on their long distance calls that he was never going to get rid of her nor his children. My dad never had that intention, but my mother's paranoid mentality would get a hold of her and drove my dad crazy. My dad would not contact her for a while. My mom persistence and my dad love for his children brought us to the United States. This is what I am thankful for. Life in the United States has been better, much better than it was in Mexico. Here, there is always something to eat. Food is cheap, really!. Rammen noodles 25cents, bag of beans $1, corn tortillas $2.00? come one you can beat that. In Mexico, unfortunately when you are poor, food is not this cheap. No one can argue with me because, I experience starvation as a child in Mexico and every time that I go back, I see that things haven't changed. Poor people are still in need of one of the most basic things for survival, FOOD. Yes I am thankful for the opportunity that God gave me and my family to live in this wonderful country of the United States. I Love my homeland like anything else, but my best memories and my best life, I found here in the Unites States. THIS IS WHAT THANKS GIVING MEANS TO ME, THERE IS PLENTY OF FOOD EVEN WHEN THE FOOD BANK IS LOW, THERE IS STILL SOMETHING LEFT FOR SOMEBODY WHO NEEDS IT. I thank God that I always have something to eat, even if is just one egg or one corn tortilla, it's more that, probably some one else in this world is lacking. Some day, when ever the Lord grants me the opportunity to become rich, I would go back to my home town and get a warehouse and let people from my old neighborhood who don't have money to buy food, get it for free. Starvation pain is a killer specially for children who don't know why they don't have anything to eat. So, during this Thanksgiving holiday, when ever you begin to chew on that turkey leg or throw away the macaroni and cheese casserole that aunt Bertha made and you didn't like, think a bout the ones who would like to eat that macaroni and cheese that you think is bad. Think outside yourself every once and a while and say a prayer for those who don't have. God listens to every prayer; if it's just a prayer that you can say, say, it send it to heaven so someone can be blessed the same way as you are.HAPPY THANKS GIVING EVERYONE!
Posted by Frances Munoz.
