It’s a great night, and way a fresh day. My family and I were spending our time in our apartment, having a fun day. My parents were courage, loyal and caring. My parents were thinking about taking a trip to Mexico(a well- name country in the south). We had to go to Mexico because my dad didn’t want to be in Los Angeles any more. He thought, “Life is short and it is time visit my mother.” He always used to say that when we go to Mexico it was for us to stay there for the rest of our lives. My dad also wanted to leave because he had a long time not seeing my grandma and he missed her but there was a problem if we go there was not an easy way to come back.

We left on August 4, 2005, on a new life in my parent’s native country. Even though we were carrying a lot of our things, we still had to leave some belongings behind. We spent the whole night on the airport and finally we departed on the next day, at 11:00 am. We were in Mexico for about a year. According to the plan my sisters and I were supposed to be in Mexico for three months, with this my parents became full of fear. My siblings and I were like birds out of the cage. We ran, jumped around, and laughed with many games.



o After months of being in Mexico, my family and I wanted to come back to Los Angeles. We decided to come back, my parents, and brother went to take my sisters, and I to the airport. In the night we were in Los Angeles airport, we were waiting for my aunt to pick us up. Afterwards my aunt, cousins, and godmother came. My aunt took us to her apartment and took care of us while my parents and brother were in Mexico.


My parents and my brother were still in Mexico beccause they needed to cross the border. Coming back to Los Angeles was hard for them because they had crossed it before, and this was their second time. It took them about a week to cross the border and come to Los Angeles, they left on a Saturday to go to Tijuana (a city located near the border between California and Baja California North). A man was waiting for them in the airport of Tijuana. The journey was complicated and it seemed similar to running around a track and trying to find an end to it. That happened around 10:00 on the morning.

“You guys the family Ortega?” the coyote’s friend asked.

The man was tall and thin.

“Yes,” was my mom’s response.

“My reliable friend told me to wait for you guys and take you to a hotel where you guys could have a place to sleep,” the man told my parents.

It is hard to realize the fact that the walls that life puts in our way can become the walls we can destroy, if we put the effort necessary to take them down.

On the next day a man came and asked for the Ortega family, the man in charge of the hotel told him in what large room they were in. The wait seem to have no end and their time in the hotel came close to expire.The man asking anxiously for my parents took them to a house. On Saturday my parents, and brother were there for a night as the sky glazed deep into their eyes leaving them stunned to what is to come.

My brave parents, and the rest of the people started walking at 8:00 p.m. near where the trains pass. On the next day the smart people were hiding under a tree were no one could see them. Most of the time they needed to be quiet. Later that day, they were resting under a tree, near the trains. At that moment, the coyote noticed that my brother was barely a kid.

“How old is he?” the coyote asked my dad.

“Twelve years asked,” my dad whispered. “Why didn’t you guys tell me that he is just a kid,” the coyote told my dad.

The coyote didn’t have any other option, so he needed to keep on going because they were already half way; unfortunately, they couldn't go back. The man had a firm attitude and didn’t want any insolence coming from them, so he ordered in an orderly manner to follow him. After that, in the night, the group kept their way jogging through the mountains. Later on the next day, they had to run across a long freeway, but they couldn't.

“Go back, hurry up! There comes immigration!” the coyote’s whispered.

So then after my parents, brother, and the other man ran back and hid. The two coyotes that were taking them ran back and left them. Then my dad and brother hid in some plants as tall as trees, they hid very well. “Shhhh! don’t make any noise,” my dad told my mom. My mom and the other guy were hidding in front, but they just had some little plants to cover themselves. Then one immigration man passed in front of were they were hiding, about 10 feet away. My mom and the other man started praying and they began to feel as if it was pointless to continue. They doubted themselves, but they knew they were fighting for a better life or for something to strive for. They prayed to themselves saying, “Please God have mercy on us and protect us from these cruel people.” They had good luck because immigration didn’t catch them. They were feeling nervous and they were afraid that immigration would catch them. The feelings felt to foresee the future to come, kept them from staying calm at any particular moment of their journey. They were hidding there for about 3 hours. Then they heard a quiet noise, and it was the two coyote man that had come back for them.

“Start walking. Immigration left already,” the coyote whispered.

Then they stood up rapidly and started running fiercely across the dangerous freeway. After crossing the freeway, they started walking up the mountain. The mountain was a challenging goal to finish, because it was one of the last barriers to get to their destination. After, they finished climbing up the mountain, they started walking across a ranch. They passed a large street where there was only dirt.

“Try to walk quietly,” the coyote’s friend whispered.

While they were walking quietly my mom violently slipped and fell but she didn’t scream, when she slipped her index finger under her hand and twisted it back, It hurt a lot and softly she stood up.

The strict coyote exclaimed, “Very smart mam, come on try to keep it down, I know it is very hard to walk on this but you have to make an effort.” Meanwhile, they kept on walking they stopped carefully, where a small car was waiting for them to pick them up. Most of the time they had to be extremely quiet. They weren’t supposed to talk.

“Move to the other car fast,” the other man said, so they did.

“Sit in the front,” the coyote told my mom. She was the only woman there.

“Don’t feel nervous, and act normal,” the coyote said.

The coyote took them over to Los Angeles; that was their last stop. Before they got there, my siblings felt warmth running through their arms. They almost heard our voice calling them out, they could almost smell our scents, it was heartwarming. My parents and brother, were waiting for my aunt to pick them up. Later on, my aunt came and picked them up and took them to her house. It was night already, my sisters and I didn’t see them them since we were sleeping calmly. They glanced at us and prepared to eat after many days of unsanitary food. Finally, it was all over. The next day when we woke up, we saw them and gave them a big hug. How would anyone feel if their opportunity to have a better life and to live in another place was under jeopardy? You would do something about it or would you be too scared to do so? That is something to really think about.

My parents and my brother had passed through a hard time. They struggled coming to Los Angeles because they eagerly wanted to be with us. My mom, know thinks of going back to visit Mexico, but she remembers how hard it was for her the first and second time coming to Los Angeles. Even though she misses beautiful Mexico, she prefers staying here with us. The bond between a mother and her child is so big that many of these mother would do anything for them even if it is to carry the world on their tired and wasted shoulders. I felt proud of them because they never gave up and kept on going. They were thinking of us while crossing the long border. Parents everywhere sacrifice for their children every day. Children should appreciate what their parents do for them. I appreciate what my parents did for me.