Laura Ramirez drove down to Fountain Valley from Sacramento with one thing in mind – seeing her parents for the first time in almost 25 years.
Ramirez was among dozens who gathered at a Curacao store in Fountain Valley to reunite with elderly family members from Jalisco, Mexico. The visit was made possible through a partnership Curacao has with Fundación Jalisco USA, a nonprofit dedicated to bettering the social, economic and educational development of people from the Mexican state.
The store hosted the reunion in its home furniture section, with waiting families sitting at the dining room tables. Germán Salazar Mauricio, an immigration lawyer with the nonprofit, played the emcee for the event, calling up each family one at a time, asking questions to draw out the suspense as their arriving family members were brought out from where they had been hidden behind a divider.
He asked Ramirez what she was feeling seconds away from seeing her parents again after moving from Mexico to Sacramento 24 years ago. She had few words to offer, saying simply “emocionada.” For her daughter standing with her it was going to be the first time she met her grandparents in person; they were also meeting their great grandson for the first time.
As her parents emerged from the backdrop, Ramirez went straight for her mom, the two hugging and crying; her father embraced his granddaughter for a long moment, talking quietly into her ear.
Then they stepped aside so the reunions could continue.
“The hugs after so long. The tears of happiness, sadness and joy,” Mauricio said. “That’s it. That’s dreams coming true.”
One by one, 25 families, many with balloons and flowers, welcomed their loved ones.
Soon Ramirez was taking her father’s suitcase to put in the car for the ride home as Francisco Ramirez Perez said, “Thank God that we finally can see each other. I feel nostalgic and passionate. We’re overcome with emotion because of so many years not seeing…
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