Hello my name is Rodolfo, and I am 8 years old. I live in the beautiful city of Los Angeles, but I don't live in the nice area. My neighborhood is small and the people who live in the neighborhood all look like me in a way.

Mainly all the hombres y señoras speak Spanish and their kids, well they speak English and Spanish like me.

Oops! I almost forgot, I live with my Tió Rodrigo and Tía Lucia. Let me tell all of you why I'm living with my Tío and Tía . The reason is because mi Papá y Mamá were taken away from me by officers.

When they were taken away they told me,"Mijo te queremos mucho, pero no podemos estar juntos, por qué aqui vas a tener un mejor futuro." When they told me this I was crying a lot because I didn't want to be away from my parents.

English Translation:

"Son we love you, but we can't be together because you will have a better future here."

The officers dressed in green uniforms with the letters I-C-E sent my parents back to Mexico. My parents went to their home town in Guanajuato, Mexico.

They called me EVERYDAY! They tell me how beautiful and colorful the city is. Even though, they call me every day, I tell my Tío Rodrigo and Tía Lucia how much I miss Mamá y Papá. I also tell my Tío and Tía that I love them too, but it's just not the same because I need my parents.

My Tío and Tía tell me, "no te preocupes Rodolfo, un dia iremos a que mires a tus padres." I told them I wanted that day to come sooner!

English translation:

"Don't worry Rodolfo, we'll take you some day to visit your parents

The following day, I got home from school and I noticed my Tía Lucia was talking on the phone with Mamá. Tía Lucia, sounded very happy. She was laughing too and telling Mamá how well I'm doing in school. I kept telling Tía Lucia that it was my turn to talk to Mamá.

She responded, "cálmate Rodolfo, ahorita te paso a tu Mamá para que hables con ella." I think Tía Lucia got a bit annoyed of me because I kept telling her to pass me the phone. Oops! I just wanted to tell Mamá that I was getting an award on Friday. I couldn't wait to tell her!

English Translation:

"Relax Rodolfo, I will give you the phone right now so you could talk with your Mom."

After 20 minutes later, Tía Lucia finally said Adiós to Mamá. It felt like an ETERNITY! So, when my Tía gave me the phone I thought to myself, "estas señoras hablan mucho."

English Translation:

"These ladies talk a lot."

I almost forgot to mention while Tía Lucia was talking to Mamá I would try listening to their conversations, but I noticed my Tía gave me that look. By the look I mean she gave me the look that made you just want to run when the sandal went up. If you know what I mean, because Mamá would raise her chancla at me when I'd get in trouble to scare me.

So, after Tía Lucia gave me the phone I told Mamá that I would be getting an award on Friday. When I told her that Mamá told me how proud she was of me. That made me feel like a super hero saving the world. Like how proud Batman feels when he saves the world from the evil Joker.

I also told Mamá that I would be going on a field trip, to the happiest place in the WORLD! DISNEYLAND! I was super excited to tell Mamá, but also sad because Papá had promised me that we would all go to Disneyland as a family.

Mamá told me to stop crying and be happy that I would be going to Disneyland. When she told me that I wiped my tears and had a big smile on my face. That's when I told Mamá, "adiós and that I love her and Papá so much." She responded, "adiós Rodolfo te quiero mucho y pronto estaremos juntos."

English Translation:

"Bye Mom I love you and Dad so much."

"Bye Rodolfo I love you and soon we'll be together again."

Later on that day, Tío Rodrigo asked me how many days were left until my birthday. When he asked me that I didn't even remember it was almost my birthday. I was too excited about the Disneyland field trip. I was too busy imagining myself on a roller coaster screaming, crying, panicking, and wanting to meet all the Disney characters.

Until Tío Rodrigo put an end to my imagination, when he raised his voice saying, "Rodolfo me estas oyendo!" My Tío scared me he even made me jump. Then I explained to him that I wasn't paying attention because I was too busy imagining myself at Disneyland. He laughed and said, "Ay Rodolfo que imaginación tienes.

English Translation:

"Rodolfo are you listening to me?!"

"Ah Rodolfo what an imagination you have."

I just smiled and went straight to bed. I was just laying down thinking about how it was almost my birthday. I was thinking of the perfect gift to ask for. I wanted everything! It was so hard to choose what I really wanted.

I really wanted a new bike because the one I had I was too embarrassed to ride it. My bike was too little and it was a Paw Patrol bike. How embarrassing! I'm already going to be 9 years old and I still have a Paw Patrol bike. This time I was going to ask for a cool bike, the bikes that big kids ride.

The following day my Tío and Tía came to my room and told me that I had one more day until it was my birthday. They told me to think really hard about what I wanted for my birthday gift. I thought really hard, I felt like my brain was going to explode.

As I continued thinking my Tío and Tía came in my room to tell me Papá had good news to tell me. I ran to the phone and Papá told me that I was a Big brother now! Hmm.. Why didn't they tell me Mamá was pregnant? Ah.. Who cares. I guess it was their birthday gift to surprise me.