Name: Victor Manuel MENDEZ

Home: virginia beach, Virginia

What country did you emigrate from? Puerto Rico

When did you emigrate to the U.S.? June 9, 1960

How did you arrive in the U.S.? plane, La Guardia N Y.

Why did you immigrate to the U.S.? For ecomomic reasons we were starving in PR.My father was picking tomatoes in New Jersy, and my mother was tired of raising us by her herself and waiting for my father to sent money. My grandmother,ants, uncles had moved to Lancaster, Pa. and my mother pack us up and move to her mom,s house, 20 people living in a 9 room house-fun.
June 12, 1960 (monday)I was in the field helping my father and uncles pick tomatoes, we did that all summer,from sun up to sunset. My father kept my wages,(I was to young to work the field legally). In winter we moved to a very small house up the street from my grandmother. My brother and I had to get a 5gl can of kerozene every 3 days to keep the house warm, that was a must because my father had too work two jobs, cathing chickens in the day and washing dishes at night.My mother work in the same poultry plant processing the chickens to support the family.
America gave me the opportunity,education,and by working hard, to help myself.

Browse similar stories:
By other people who live in Virginia
By other people whose also came from Puerto Rico