"My Life in America" by Maria Morales

"Mother and Child" Pablo Picasso, 1921

















My name is Maria Morales. I came to the United States with my family more than 20 years ago. When I came here, my oldest son was 2 and half years old, and my second son was 5 months old. At first, like many people, I lived with my relatives while my husband looked for a job. It was difficult for him to find a job because his English was not good. When he applied, the person who interviewed him said he needed to speak English fluently to work in the job he wanted. At first he had to work in a small liquor store at night and study English in the day time.

Sometimes I worked too in a small word processing company for a few months making tax forms. After almost one year of studying English and working in different areas, he found a job a City College of San Francisco as a Computer Analyst. I stayed at home to take care of the house and children. When my second child was in preschool, I tought I was ready to go back to work but became surprised that I was pregnant for a third time, and my dream of working disappeared again. My last pregnancy was very difficult because the whole time I was very sick and almost lost my daughter. She was born at 6 and a half months, weighing 3 pounds.

She had to stay in the hospital for almost 3 months, I visited her every day and then picked up my sons at school and go home. When the doctor released her, she was okay to go outside the hospital. I took care of her in my home. She grew up healthy and nobody thought she was premature.

After that, I continued to take care of my children and waited for them to grow up. My daughter and her second oldest brother graduated from College and my oldest son is finishing next year. After my second son finished his master degree, he got married and now has two sons. He is happy with his family.

Now I have time to go back to school to study English because in this country we need to communicate with other people and learn different things. Speaking English has helped me learn how to bake cakes, knit hand crafts and more. I look back on those years and I think they were difficult, but worth it. Staying at home to dedicate myself to take care of my children was the hardest but the most rewarding job I could ever have.