Essay - Immigrant as a Child, Lorenzo Baltasar Lived in the Southern...

Immigrant

***** a child,

Lorenzo

Baltasar lived in the southern part of Spain, along the coast of the Mediterranean. During his *****hood he used to go fishing among the shallows, grabbing any fish that had been caught up during the tide changes. His relatively carefree childhood came to an abr*****t end when, in the summer of 1942, Francisco Franco, a fascist dicta*****r, came to power during ***** Spanish Civil War. Lorenzo and his family, including his little sister Bonita, had barely enough money ***** make it across the Atlantic towards ***** promise l*****: America.

Compared to the war *****rn Spain, ***** seemed a beautiful and peaceful land, but this illusion was soon torn away as the Baltasars moved into a tiny ********** in Boston. Lorenzo was sixteen ***** his family *****, old ***** to get a job ********** begin to take care ***** his *****. The fa*****r, Arturo, struggled through three jobs, all of which paid so low ***** they almost covered rent. Soon Lorenzo was forced ***** work ***** own *****, mostly running odd jobs for neighbors and family friends. This was very different from his earlier untroubled life, but he ***** learned to cope w*****h this change. With his help the ***** survived the ordeal of living in a big city.

***** racism so common against people ***** Southern European descent hurt Lorenzo as a child, there was one instance where he was walking down a street to return ***** pan his mother ***** borrowed from a friend. A few 'tall white kids', as he called them, kicked the pan out of his hands and beat him down. They ***** him cruel names, and then left him to cry home.

Lorenzo had to endure ***** constant torment ***** he grew up, but it was nothing compared to what his parents suffered. In ***** Sofia Baltasar had ***** a loving and caring mother of two, educating and raising them from birth. In Boston she ***** to work five hours a day sewing up uniforms for the men in action. Instead of taking care of Bonita and Lorenzo, she ***** busy *****ing to keep the family afloat. But despite every *****ce trying to tear them apart, somehow they would gather every evening and eat their 'late lunches' as a loving