My parents came to Canada hoping for a better future for all of us. My four sisters and I stayed with my Grandmother in the Azores for two years before we could join our parents in Toronto. I was thirteen years old, my younger sister Odilia was only three, when my mother came to join my father and left my Grandparents with their hands full .

 With some friend's help, my parents found jobs and an apartment. When we arrived in Toronto 1974, we joined with my parents and my little brother George, he was borne in 1974. My father had a job as a gardener and my mom had a job at Holiday Inn. They knew little English, so it was difficult, however they were fortunate to hold jobs. At first I was amazed how wide the roads were in the Canada, back in the Azores Islands the streets are narrow and rocky. It was dangerous there because you never knew if cars were coming around the corners, the drivers usually beeped when they came across sharp curves in town. I had never seen so many supermarkets, cars and people. My hard working parents had bought a house with a driveway and a backyard. It was a big house, so they rented the second floor to a black lady with a small child. But what really mattered was that our family was together once more. We also lived right by a Catholic school and had Portuguese neighbors, someone whom we could at least understand.

 My first day of school in Toronto was horrible, I felt like so lonely. At first I was somewhat teased, and made fun of because I didn't know any English . I felt like an outsider, all alone with no real friends to talk with. It hurt deeply when some students asked me something and I didn't know what they were saying.... How about you? have you experienced this?..... I had to learn fast, and fast I learned. Canada was not the paradise I thought it would be. I knew that I had to work hard if I was going to be a <<somebody>> and have the things that I wanted.

 I have been lucky in this country, and I say this with honesty. Some other immigrants came and work just as hard as I do, they do the worst jobs, but have little to show for it.... Something is wrong!!!!