finding the “American Dream.” In 2003, one of those people was Dulce’s father, Rene, who had lost his job in Acapulco. Taking on miscellaneous jobs wasn’t enough to provide for a family of four as well as the medical bills of a sick daughter
She remembers her father’s departure so vividly—and the pain it brought her and her family. As she begins telling the story, her face gets serious. “I just remember him walking down the stairs one day with a backpack on his shoulders, and at that moment I .
Mexico, and everything he had endured would have to be done again. Money, progress, and hope would be lost.
She remembers her dad’s last words: “Se cuidan, las quiero mucho” (take care, I love you guys very much) as she stood in tears alongside her abuelita, mom, and sister.
However, her father called the family regularly and let them know that, after many weeks of trying to cross over, he was finally able to get to the other side. Galindo remembers all the phone calls ending
moment I knew he was leaving us.” At the age of eight, she didn’t quite understand the reasons for her dad’s departure, but she knew it would be a long time before she saw him. With so many people migrating, she had heard the horrid stories of the difficulties encountered when trying to cross the border: walking through the desert, swimming across El Rio Grande, and the not-so-simple act of trying not to get caught by the U.S. Border Patrol. If her father got caught, he would be imprisoned and sent back to Mexico, and everything he had endured would have to be done again. Money, progress, and hope would be lost.
“I just remember him walking down the stairs one day with a backpack on his shoulders, and at that moment I knew he was leaving us.”
with tears and “I miss you”’s. Two young girls were yearning for their father, while a wife was longing for her other half. The lack of money and the absence of the man they loved became too much, so a year later, Dulce’s mother prepared her two daughters to take off on the arduous journey to be reunited with their father.
At the age of nine, young Dulce herself embarked upon the dangerous and adventurous expedition to the United States alongside her sister Daira and her mother. Galindo tells the story so calmly, not realizing the courage it took to achieve this and how inspiring her story is. She laughs at how naïve she was then. “I didn’t know we were coming over because we needed money. I thought we were just coming to see my dad!”
Her dangerous journey is one that hundreds of thousands of people attempt to make each year, with only a portion succeeding. Dulce remembers crossing a small river with her 5-year-old sister and her mother. In efforts to avoid getting caught,
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