In this blog I will write about personal experiences on my topic relating to fatherless homes.
On April 13, 2011 my household became a household without a father. My father appeared at court for a speeding violation in Conejos County just outside of Alamosa. Him and my mother had left my sisters and I at home the night prior to the court. They called us in that morning to make sure we were up for school while they were getting ready to appear in court. At 9:53 a.m. I received an unexpected call from my mother which worried me because she knew I was in school and she would never call me during school hours. With Ralphs permission I exited the classroom and answered the call, I was shocked to hear my mothers trembling words telling me to watch my sisters for a few days and to be strong because she might not be home for a couple of days. After I heard that I knew something was wrong and I insisted in her telling me what had happened, she proceeded in informing me that my dad had been arrested by Immigration Officials as they were exiting the court room. She continued telling me that she kept walking even though the two undercover officers called for her as well but not by her name as they had to my dad. My mother walked away and walked into town where she recognized a man that had also been in the court room. She approached him and told him what had happened while in tears and asked him if he would be kind enough to give her a ride to Alamosa where she would wait for my aunt to arrive with the extra keys of my dads truck. At first she was worried for my father and his well being then she realized that she was on a car with a stranger but she was desperate to get out of town. She got on his van but before that she got the mans name and license plates number in case anything happened. The man treated the situation as if my mom was a criminal being persecuted so he made her wear a hat and sweatshirt to "throw of authorities."Minutes into the ride he was telling her how he was an involved catholic and made my mom feel better. Officials of Alamosa lied to me when I made the first call requesting information on my fathers arrest and said they had not arrested anyone by that name. A few minutes later my aunt called in and they told her it was because of Identity Theft. A month later when he was deported to Mexico, he was only being punished for entering the country illegally. All this is just a background knowledge of what had happened that day but not how it affected the family.
My mother didn't get back home until like two days later because she was in Denver and Colorado Springs making calls and meeting up with attorneys to see what could be done. Meanwhile I was at home with my sisters and I had told them that mom and dad had gone to Española, NM to visit our family and didn't suspect what was going on. After the first day passed Maite had realized that she hadn't talked to dad and something was wrong and she asked me a few times, "What's going on? Just tell me!" I always replied the same way and said, "Nothing's wrong they'll be home tomorrow." Sure enough mom was home but my dad was nowhere near and all of a sudden my sisters excited faces turned into sad, gloomy representation of dissatisfaction. They asked my mom for my dad and she sat them down and said, "Girls I have to tell you something", with a tear rolling down her cheek, almost instantly my sisters knew it was bad and started weeping. She then said, "Your father was arrested by immigration and won't be with us for a while." As soon as Karen heard that she took a deep breath and started crying quietly followed by Maite trying to hold in her anger and sadness. She started yelling saying, "I wan't my daddy! Where is my dad? When is he coming back!" After Karen heard that she could no longer stay quiet and broke out crying with her, my mom saw how hurt they were and joined them, it's was so saddening and heartbreaking I couldn't handle it, I got up and walked into the room where I silently cried feeling like a three year old all over again.
The day that my dad was arrested he called me around four and he told me, "I was busted, Immigration Arrested me. Please be good and take care of the household. Take care of my girls and your mother." After he finished saying that, he broke out crying. It felt as if I had taken a shot to the head, I felt hopeless it was the first time in my life that I had heard my dad cry, I knew he was scared and extremely sad and worried of losing us. A week later my sisters talked to him telling him they loved him and that they wanted him back everyone in tears my dad crying once again and telling us that was the only reason he didn't want to call us because he knew he wouldn't be strong enough for that.
Time passed and I saw the change at home with everyone. My sisters started talking back and rebelling against my mother. They ignored her when they were told to do something. I would come home later and didn't worry much about consequences. I saw the loneliness in my mothers eyes and the defeat within her. It got to the point where I had to stand up for her and regain her respect. Every time she was disrespected or ignored, I was the one talking to my sisters trying to make them realize the situation and how hard and stressing we made it when we disobeyed. Now everything is better, there is hope on m fathers return and we all became stronger and more understanding.
