Portugal to Canada

My family originally emigrated from Portugal. My parents and so on were born in Portugal. But even though my parents were born in Portugal, they came to Canada when they were very young. My mom was 6, and my dad was 2. Because of this my parents are very much Canadianized.

My grandparents came to Canada without a lot of money, because work in Portugal was very slow. When my mom’s parents came here, my grandma was pregnant with my uncle and she was due any day, my uncle could have been born in the air over the Atlantic Ocean. But he was born a week after landing on Canadian soil.

My grandparents moved to Canada to have a better life, for themselves and for their kids. One of my grandfathers was a construction worker back in Portugal, and the other was a mechanic. But the money that you make in Portugal is not as much as you would get here in Canada. And back in Portugal my grandma’s didn’t work. In Portugal if you’re not a stay-at-home mom, you were looked at in a different way. But when they came to Canada, living expenses were more, and because my grandpa’s had to go look for a job, plus they had to support their families and pay house bills, my grandma’s had to work. My dad’s mom became a doctor assistant at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, and my mom’s mom became a house cleaner. My grandparents did very well for themselves. Very quickly they became stable and eventually had the money to get the things they wanted; a bigger house, a nicer car ect.

I look at my grandparents, and I don’t know how they did it. Just pack up everything and move to a completely different country where they don’t even speak the language. It must have been so touch for them. For anyone actually; anyone who has had to make such a huge change to their life. I’m not sure if I could do that myself. It’s like packing up all my stuff and moving to China. I would be way too scared, I couldn’t do it. But I give credit to those who can, and they should pat themselves on their back for being so brave. Good for you!