A letter to John Goy, author of Their Great Gift

Dear Mr. Goy

Hi Mr. Goy, I am Elizabeth. I am married, I have three kids and I am an immigrant in this country this is the reason why this book reminds of when I came here. When I was reading and looking at the pictures in the book Their Great Gift, I was feeling sad, and I continued to read and look at the pictures.  I stopped on every page and I was thinking about my past life. I was remembering when I came here for the first time. I was thinking that I would have a better life than I would have in my town in Mexico. It is true but you have to confront a lot of challenges, you need to know how to be involved in this big country.

I will never forget how afraid I was one day when my son was two years old.  He had a doctor’s appointment and I needed to take a bus because I didn’t have a car and I didn’t know how to drive. When I was in the doctor’s office the person in charge on the front desk told me,   “Your son is not registered with this office.  You need to go to CHOC children’s hospital.”  I got the bus again in two different  streets.  When I was there the medical assistant asked me if I have time to wait because my baby didn’t have an appointment and there were a lot of people. After I was waiting, one patient talked to me and she advised me to take the bus before nine o’clock pm because it’s the last one. I was very sad and scared because my baby was sick, but for that moment I was thinking about how to return back home. After that I decided to leave the hospital and I was lost because I was walking a lot in the hospital to try to find the office and I didn’t know how to get out. I was confused on the direction. I asked some people but they didn’t understand me because I spoke in Spanish. Finally I found a bus stop. I got the bus and I was thinking about my long trip for nothing.

This life lesson made my husband and me think about saving money to buy a car because we worried for my baby’s future appointments . This was one of a lot of challenges that I had to confront in this big country.

I do not understand why you decided to named this book Their Great Gift when you wrote sad words and showed sad pictures. I was looking back at my life in this country but also I can see the story in a good way because I had sad experiences but also I have good gifts from this country.  I’m very grateful because it’s given me a lot of good things especially my three kids.  They were born here and I try to advise them how to have good behavior and how to develop in this country.  My oldest son is a dental assistant, my daughter is in college and my baby son is in high school. They are my reason to still work.

I have been continuing to fight for their dreams and my dream too. I have been studying English to get a better job.  Before, I lived in a not very good community and I lived with a strange family and I needed to share a kitchen and bathroom.  Now I live only with my family in a safe neighborhood.  When my husband was younger, he was a dishwasher but later he got a good opportunity to work on electrical assistant and now he is an electrician and he has a good job.  Finally!! I can drive and I have a car. So all the time someone has to sacrifice for your family, in this case my husband and I, because we are the first generation in this country. But I don’t care how much work I have to do because I hope one day my kids will have a better Great Gift in their lives.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Perez