Leaving our country was difficult, and I wondered if the love we feel for our culture would stay with my kids, but I was determined to help them remember. Almost 10 years later, they still love and long for Guatemala, and I am so grateful. We will always be proud Guatemalans.

The last push. It suddenly hit us that we needed to leave the United States as soon as possible. We had no idea how, but we had two months to put everything together to move to Valencia. Were we going to make it? It was a daily thought that would cross my mind, but I kept pushing forward.

After leaving Hawai’i, we moved to pretty Alexandria, next to Washington, D.C. Unknown to me, it was then that champagne wishes, and caviar dreams of living in Valencia had started to take shape. I was busy trying to establish care for my daughter and keeping up with a demanding job, but I was clear that Val was moving to Spain in the following year.