Posts in the My life Category

“Dear Tracey,

What a wonderful idea to take your talents and pay it forward to a deserving family!

I would like to nominate a family that I know well and is very deserving of such a wonderful gift! The Navarro family made the journey from Bolivia to the United States in 2003. Their journey, like so many, started with a dream of living and working in the United States.

Coming to a new country brings new changes and challenges for everyone! The Navarro family is a very close, strong, and loving family. In order to keep their dream alive, Señor and Señora Navarro work very long hours at their jobs, each leaving the house at 6 in the morning and not getting home some nights until 7 pm. This leaves little time to see and spend time with their children! Maria Luisa, their oldest daughter, takes care of the home during the day while watching her two year old daughter, Isabel. Every Sunday is a designated family day for the Navarro’s! They start their day traveling to a nearby town where they go to a Spanish mass and then head home for the one big family dinner their works schedules allow in the week. However, more often than not Señora Navarro is called into work not allowing her to spend the day with her family.

Señor and Señora Navarro were blessed with many children! Manuel, Alfonso, Maria Luisa, David, Miguel, Evelyn, and Gabriela are all such respectful and delightful kids!

However, two years ago, they received a dreadful phone call from Bolivia letting them know of the tragic death of the eldest son, Manuel, who was still living in Bolivia with his daughter. With the cost of airline tickets being so expensive, Señor Navarro and Alfonso were the only two that could return to Bolivia for the funeral and burial services. As you could imagine, this crushed Señora Navarro who had to stay here and take care of the rest of the family. This tragic event has actually brought this family even closer, as they have learned to not take life for granted.

Everyone in the family is still learning and improving their English skills. They have all worked so hard at overcoming the language barriers both in everyday conversations and using the language in academic classes!

The children often tell me how much they miss their grandfather that is still living in Bolivia and the mere thought of them being able to send pictures back to Bolivia to their grandfather and their late brother’s daughter brings tears to my eyes! This mother and father work such long days and long hours to provide what they can for their children and a great beautiful big family picture would be something that they would cherish.”