This is a piece from Walking Through
Walls, a recent publication from 826LA.

My grandmother rarely tells the story of when she came to the United States, but she has told me. If not for my grandmother coming to the United States, frankly, I wouldn’t be here. I interviewed my grandmother to get a better understanding of our family’s history.

Ena Echeverria came to the United States in 1976. Her trip, as any other immigrant would go through, was a difficult one. At the age of thirty-five, she left El Salvador and her family behind for a very common reason: “La búsqueda por una vida mejor para mi familia,” my grandmother answered proudly. (The pursuit for a better life for my family.)

As it turned out, she made the choice to come here, not my grandfather. My grandfather had a job back in El Salvador and was also taking care of their daughters. Usually it’s the husband who makes the journey, but my grandmother was tough enough and said she could handle it.

“¿Cómo vino usted a este país?” I asked. (How did you get here?) I wanted to get a lot of details on the trip.

“Por tierra,” she said bluntly.

“OK ... por tierr ... wait ... cómo es eso ... Caminando?” (Walking?) I wasn’t really good at Spanish—not to mention translating.

My grandmother came here by land (por tierra) for some parts, some parts by car, and other parts just walking. I was stunned; that must have been one long trip. There was only one thing on my grandmother’s mind: work. She found a job in a planta.

“¿Planta?” I asked, I had no idea what that was.

As it turned out, working in a planta was the same as cleaning houses. The people that she worked for were very nice to her. She had earned enough money to rent a small apartment. It wasn’t a dream home, but it was a good start. At the same time, she longed for her family back home. My grandmother left behind six daughters. Years later, my mother—the oldest of the siblings—would make her journey to the United States, but that story is for another time.

After one year of cleaning houses, she got another job working in a factory. My grandmother worked there for fourteen long years. The name of the factory was Century Company and Herbert. In the factory, the work style was even better than cleaning houses. The workers had a union and the salary was OK for the time.

“Cinco dólares por hora,” she answered, knowing what my question would have been.

“¡Qué! ¿Cinco dólares?” I asked, shocked. I thought that amount—"five dollars per hour—was little pay, but then it hit me that this was quite some time ago. Little by little, the pay went up for them. My grandmother moved into a new place, really more of an ideal place.

“Después me vine a vivir en este edificio...” (Then I came to live in this building.) “… y ahora tengo ... veinte y siete anos viviendo acá,” she said with a smile. (And now it’s been … twenty-seven years.) I just sat there staring at her—twenty-seven years living in the same old place? The fact was my grandmother should have been the manager of the place for the amount of time that she had been living there.

Our apartment is a big part of our family’s history. My parents met in it. My father lived in that very same apartment building when my grandmother was living there. Over time, my mom would come and live there. My brother and I actually grew up in the building. I am still living there; my brother graduated high school, and now he is having the good experience of living in a dorm. The same will probably happen to me. Of course, there is always the possibility that I may just stay here, at the apartment, but I keep my fingers crossed at the thought of college.

My grandmother looked at me wearily and asked, “¿Nada más que quieres saber?” (Anything else you need to know?)

“Uh... no ya está bien,” I added quickly. (Uh... no it’s fine.) I knew that she was tired; the lighting in the room illuminated her wrinkles, and her eyes looked heavy with sleep. I cut the interview short.

Besides, I got the most important facts, I thought to myself.

Ena Echeverria is now retired at age sixty-five. She has taken care of many of her grandchildren, including me. Babysitting us has been a job after retirement, except with no pay. I tell her that she should let someone else or the parents themselves take care of their kids, and then she could go on a nice relaxing vacation. It may be a tiring job at times, but she is glad to look after her grandchildren. I may never understand the reason for that; I think she has done more than enough in her life!

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