Illustration by Timothy Cook
This piece appears as the My Take column in the July issue of Richmond magazine, on newsstands now. We thought it particularly appropriate for the Fourth of July weekend.
Love brought me to Powhatan County.
I never imagined I would come here and live in the United States. I was born in Mexico City in 1967 and I graduated from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico in 1991 with a business administration degree. In 2010, I was working for Oracle Mexico as a sales representative. I traveled a lot for work, to London, Madrid, Paris, Buenos Aires and Costa Rica. I was 43 years old and never married, but I had been in a relationship for about five years.
One day, I went to have a checkup and they said that I might have breast cancer. That made me think that I was wasting my time just working and being in a relationship that wasn’t going anywhere. I had my own house, a really good job, but I didn’t have a family of my own. I said, “I need to change my life. I have everything, but I want more. I want a real life.”
To take my mind off my worries about cancer, my sister suggested that I play FarmVille on Facebook. It was fun. I said, “Look at me! I have a farm here, I have cows, I have corn.” I made a lot of friends, and I met my husband, Chris Lipscomb, there. When I accepted him as a friend, he was a very sweet person, very kind. He would say, “Everything is going to be fine. Don’t be worried. Get your biopsy, whatever you have to do. I will pray for you.”
Finally, I got my biopsy and everything was fine. No cancer! Then Chris disappeared from Facebook for a while. He appeared again in 2011 when I was in Texas on vacation with my mom, my dad and my sister. He saw pictures of my family and asked me, “Where are you now?” Austin. “What are you doing there?” Shopping. “OK, why don’t you come to see me?” I don’t know where you are. “I’m in Virginia.”
I told him I had to go back to Mexico. Then he started again every day: “Come to see me. I really like you.” I came here to Powhatan County the first opportunity I had. I stayed here for two weeks. He introduced me to his family the second day I was here. At the airport, the day I had to go back to Mexico, he asked me if I wanted to marry him. I didn’t answer right away.
Later, I asked him, “Why don’t you come here to live with me? I have this income here in Mexico, I have a house here.” He said, “Yes, but I don’t speak Spanish. I have almost 25 years of working in the same company here.” We found a lawyer to advise us and I moved here. We got married in January 2012, but I still worked for Oracle and I traveled back and forth. The fifth time I came back here, the immigration officer said, “What is your business in Powhatan?” I never expected they would ask me that. I really didn’t want to apply for a green card at that time. I wanted to know if my marriage would work. Chris said, “You have to choose: your family and your job in Mexico or your relationship here.”
I quit my job, and I received my green card in October 2012. Now I’m applying for citizenship.
I love my parents, I love the culture in Mexico, but I’m building a new life here. I’ve transitioned from city girl to country woman. I like the fresh air and the view driving from work to my home. My husband and I like to spend time fishing and hunting.
When I attended a course on citizenship at the Virginia Historical Society, I thought, “This is a great country.” I learned about when the Constitution was written, when the American people came from Great Britain and other countries, and then I learned about Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. The way that they set up the government was brilliant. Here, you have your president, you have the Congress and you have the judicial branch. It’s a perfect balance. In this country, nobody is above the law. In another country, if you’re a criminal, you may be able to stay out of jail because you have good connections. This country is different.
It’s in continual change or evolution. I perceive this country like that. It’s always looking for something better. One of the teachers in my English for Speakers of Other Languages class remembers that when she was young, schools and buses were segregated. Now, everything is different. This country is young, but it’s mature. Citizens here act for what they think is right. You’re able to fight for your rights, for your ideas. Maybe you can win, maybe not. But you can do something.
What does citizenship mean for me? I’m Mexican, but I cannot vote for president there because I’m here, and I cannot vote for president here because I am not a citizen. So I think citizenship makes you a part of something bigger. Citizenship means belonging to a place with shared ideology, history and cultural roots.
As a citizen, you can vote, you can participate in the political party that you want and you can be more productive in your community with different programs. If I have the privilege to be an American citizen by naturalization, I will do my best to contribute to this country.
In 2013, my mom was very sick and I flew to Mexico. At the immigration area there, the customs officer gave me a hard time. After asking the reason for my visit, she said, “You have to go over there and wait,” and didn’t explain why. I had all my documents. It was very upsetting.
I was afraid something like that would happen when I returned to the United States. Instead, the officer in Houston smiled at me, and after hearing my mother had been sick, he asked, “How’s she doing?” He asked if I had any tequila in my luggage, and when I said no, he said, “Ah, you should bring some tequila from Mexico.” He said, “Welcome home.” I started to cry. I said, “You’re right, officer. This is my home.”
Nora Herrera Sánchez works for the Virginia Department of Health’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). She has applied for naturalization and is awaiting an interview. She shared her perspective with Executive Editor Tina Eshleman.
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