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June 05, 2007 12:23 am
Immigrant gives thanks for opportunities
“My dreams came true, but I had to work for them. You have to never stop dreaming.”
By Alice Collinsworth
CNHI News Service
EDMOND, Okla. — Patricia Gracia is a grateful person.
Others might not be, given her circumstances. She was the third of 12 children, born in Chihuahua, Mexico, to a poor family.
As a young adult, Gracia worked as a secretary for a government agency, but the pay was meager. She yearned for a better life.
“I didn’t want to be poor," she said. "I didn’t want that for my kids.”
In 1986, with her 8-year-old son and 1-month-old daughter in tow, Gracia left her family and her home country with only a few changes of clothing.
She moved to El Paso, Texas, and found work cleaning houses, doing laundry and working for landscapers — honest work, if humble. But life was difficult.
“I was frustrated because I could not speak or understand English," she said. "I managed to make myself understood through hand signs."
Gracia’s little family was barely getting by on her earnings of $20 or $25 a day. She found lodging with the Sisters of Charity.
“While I was there, I realized what it meant to have a home,” she said. “I trusted in God to light the way and allow me to meet all adversity.”
While Gracia continued to work, sometimes taking her small children with her, she cherished a dream.
“I wanted to have my own place,"she said, "a nice house.”
She struggled to deal with the limitations of her past.
“My family said I had no right to dream,” she said. “They said I was always going to be poor, but I said, ‘No — I will have a car. I will have a house.’”
Gracia began the process of becoming a United States resident and a naturalized citizen. She took English classes and enrolled in a community college while working two day jobs.
After much hard work, she managed to rent a one-bedroom apartment and buy a $300 car. She took more college classes and managed her own catering business.
Gracia moved to the Oklahoma City area in 1996, looking for opportunities.
One of those opportunities was at Panera Bread, where she is now a master baker.
She loves her work, arriving at 4 a.m. to begin the day’s baking, often working 11-hour shifts. Above the hubbub of the crowded restaurant, her voice can be heard calling out greetings to customers, many of whom she knows by name. She has made numerous friends.
Chris Culpepper, Panera’s assistant manager, said Gracia’s cheerful attitude and hard work are valued qualities.
“She’s very motivated and outgoing. She loves people,” he said. “She’s our crutch. She really has helped solidify our business here. She’s a great asset.”
Unfortunately, not everyone has been so appreciative. Gracia said she sometimes encounters customers who take offense at her Hispanic heritage.
“They will say, ‘Go back to your country and let a white person have this job,’” she said.
She has had paper thrown in her face. She’s been threatened with deportation. Customers have refused to be waited on by her.
Still, she loves America.
Gracia became a U.S. citizen in 1997. Her own family members back in Mexico question that decision, even though she’s now able to send them money and clothing.
“My brothers and sisters think I’m the black sheep,” she said. “They think I’m so American.”
For five years Gracia worked at a second full-time job as a custodian and Spanish interpreter for the Edmond Police Department, living on only four hours’ sleep each night.
But she was moving closer to her dream.
Gracia now owns the house and the automobile she always wanted. Her children have grown up and gone on to jobs of their own in Cancun.
“I worked so hard for this,” she said. “My dreams came true, but I had to work for them. You have to never stop dreaming.”
Now she plans to incorporate all her experiences by going back to Mexico later this year. She’s opening a bed and breakfast in Los Cabos where she will host American tourists in her home country.
Even though she has struggled to attain her goals, Gracia said she’s thankful.
When she received her citizenship papers in 1997, she prepared a statement expressing gratitude for her opportunities in the United States.
“Gracias, America,” she concluded, and signed the paper, “A proud immigrant.”
Alice Collinsworth writes for The Edmond (Okla.) Sun.
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