Mi Querido Viejo - A Family Artifact
My father is from Nayarit, Mexico and he came to the United States when he was 22 year olds. He came through the foothills near Tijuana, Mexico and San Ysidro, California guided by a coyote that he paid 500 dollars to in 1986. They made their way across the foothills on foot, once they were in the United States they got in a vehicle and the coyote took my dad to a house in Los Angeles, California. This was his first of perhaps three or four illegal voyages across the Mexico and United States border.
The family migration artifact I brought in to present is my father's military card. It is this yellowed, paint-stained, tiny little document with an even tinier picture of my father when he was 18 years old and mustache-less. I did not have to dig through drawers to or an attic to find it, it is always within reach. This is not so old piece of relatively recent history my father carries in his wallet along with a Mexican voter's registration card.
I asked my father why he carries around these documents since there is no way that he would be using them for anything here in the US. He made a smacking sound with the corner of his lips as he shrugged in a manner that said well why would I not be carrying them. A man carries in his wallet the things he needs and the things close to his heart, at least that is the type of man my father is. As he carries pictures of my sisters and me when we were around 6 years old, he, too, carries pieces of his nationality.
My father aches for his homeland. He does not visit often as he works very hard here and there are bills to pay. He is now a resident and it has been well over a decade that he has had legal status; yet, he has not taken steps toward citizenship. He is proud to be a Mexican national and does not seem willing to give that up. He has mentioned to me a few times now, that once my sisters are grown he will go back but as long as they still need him he will be here. Indeed, my father is an example of an immigrant who came to the US to earn money and with the intention to go back to his homeland. But, as the story usually goes, he met a girl and had children.