For those of you that don't know me that well, here's a little secret. For years now (10 to be exact) i struggled in this country because of legal issues. My parents tried to make the best of it, even though we knew that without the proper legal documents our stay here was temporary. I, in return tried to aid them as much as i could. I worked hard in high school and got a scholarship that covered college completely. And still, that's when our problems began. When i applied to college, they registered me as an out of state student. In that case my scholarship wouldn't cover, and i would have to pay twice as much. My mother tried her hardest to get proof that we had been living in Florida for more than a year but they wouldn't take it. They asked for a proof of legal residency, and i did not have it.
At that moment my mom decided to go talk to our lawyer. He is currently the top immigration lawyer in the country, and very expensive. We had not gone to him in years because of this, but at the moment we where running out of ideas. We thought all hope was lost, but then he came to us with what i can only describe as miraculous. He informed us that a work permit request that my mother had processed back in 2000 and the 6 year waiting period was up. If my parents could come up with $4000 in a month we could have our whole family apply for a work permit. We had some friends lend us money and we pulled through. My mom used some of the paper work she was issued to show i had lived here for more than a year, and my status in the college was changed to in-state. Only 5 months after this we where given the green light to fill out the paper work. We came a little short on the money and we wherent able to process my younger sister. According to what our lawyer said, we where purely at the hands of God now. It was only a matter of faith; who ever got their hands on our paper work could easily toss them aside, or generously sign them.
A month passed and in the mail we got a reciept from the INS saying the paperwork had arrived and it would be processed within the next 6 months. For the first time in 10 years we where getting somewhere. At that moment we where able to get out driving lisence. My parent's had expired only 2 months before. Meanwhile i studied the driver's manual and prepared to take my driving exam.
Thursday, May17th. The day arrived to go to the DMV, but when we got there it was pure dissapointment. I had not taken the Drug and Alcohol class so i was not allowed to take the driving exam. We decided to put the exam off for another week.
Last Tuesday, my day off from school, i decided to go to my boyfriend's house. After 4 hours or so i went back home. I routinely checked the main and walked inside my house. My mom arrived 2 hours later. I handed her the mail and we looked it over. Within the inch-thick stack where 4 white envelopes. Nothing distinctive about them, except they where all the same, and for the first time in years one was adressed to my younger brother. my mom looked at them odd. She asked me "are these from today?" and opened mine. She let out a shriek and a single paper fell out, something heavy was attached to them. The next 20 minutes are a blurr to me. It was mostly me crying. It still seems unreal. In my hand where 4 work permits. One for my brother, one for my mom, one for my dad, and one for me. 10 years of toil and suffering where summed up to a mere 60 days. It seems impossible now that i look back at it, completly unreal. Last friday at 10 am i recieved my driving liscence. At 2 pm we filed out paper work requesting our SSN. Today and yesterday I've been filling out job aplications at a mall nearby. My first job.
Life is so insignificant....and yet joys still last an eternity.
