Jose and Carla — Welcomes and Farewells

Jose Chirino

It was very hard because not only was I leaving my country, I have a daughter, she was 14 years old at the time. Being separated from my daughter was the hardest thing that I have been through in my life.

I arrived in 1992, exactly on Holy Thursday, I remember it because the next day I had to work, and it was Good Friday…

In Honduras, we never had to work on that day. I had never worked on that day before, but with the need to earn some cash, I opted for working on Good Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Why the United States? The number one reason is that 60% of my family was already living here, so it was the easiest choice.

My happiest day in this country was when I met my wife. I met her in 1993, one year after I arrived. It was a lovely thing and thank God we have been together for the last 25 years and this has been my greatest happiness.

Carla Gonzalez

It was very hard to say goodbye to everybody. Especially to my Mom because I wouldn’t ever see her again, 25 years later, I went back to Honduras to attend the funeral.

Twenty years ago my son was born. Everything changed. Before he was born, we were always thinking about going back to Honduras, but once he was born everything changed: We decided to stay… and we are still here, and we try to keep fighting to see what we can accomplish

He is preparing himself for a career in Aerospace Engineering.

I feel good in this country, despite all the difficulties of life,
I feel good and fulfilled. We have achieved a lot.
We have a beautiful family.