My name is Gerardo G. Gomez. I was born in a small town in Mexico, Cañanda Grande, San Luis Potosí and was brought to the US at the age if 2 by my wonderful parents, Esteban & Maria Gomez. While my childhood was not glamorous, it was full of love. My dad, a very proud man, worked very hard to provide for his family. He was a welder in Mexico and made doors and and came to the US in search of a better life for us. When he found a small town in Texas, Beaumont He worked in a galvanizing plant when I was small. I remember that he would pick up extra work as a weekend custodian and he would bring me along. While this may seem like a simple thing, for me the time I spent with my dad, cleaning an office, was as cool as an exploration adventure into a new land. He later got a job as a welder, which he still works as to this day. He is a Mans' Man who believes in the ways of Old Mexico. But he has earned that right, and I respect him for all that he has done for us. My mother, like many other people's, is an amazing person. She has sacrificed so much for her family's well being. I remember as a child, my mom would talk to me about her own childhood. She would tell me about how little she had as far as material things. She would tell me that she would make corn husks into dolls to say the least, my mother grew up very poor. But unlike the word, my mother was very rich with family. She would eventually leave her family in Mexico and follow her husband to the US in search of a better life for us. Her Grandfather, who raised her, died soon after and she was unable to go to Mexico, because she was not yet "legal".