An American Dream by Danyelle

An American Dream by Danyelle - February 2016 Scholarship Essay

There are so many unsung heroes in history. The people that could have made the easy choice, but made the hard ones instead. The ones that sacrificed everything they had to give their children a brighter future. The ones that did the right thing, but time forgot. It is one of those heroes that I would want to eat dinner with if I could. Her name is Rosa Silveira Brazil de Campos and she was my Great Great Grandmother.
Rosa was born 8 Aug 1875 in Rosais, Sao Jorge, Azores. Her mother was a homemaker and her father was a Sangrador, or bloodletter. After a long history of Pirates, natural disasters, and crop failure, the 1830's showed a decline in the economy. A potato rot hit causing many to starve. People turned to whaling and the lure of a rich land called America. They were told that jobs were plentiful, land was ideal for planting, and you could engorge yourself with the available food. Rosa decided to take the chance and left the island, by herself, at the age of 24. When she arrived in New Bedford, Massachusetts she married a man she had met on the ship from a neighboring island.
The transition to a new land was difficult. She and her husband did not speak English and they had very little money. She had 10 children, four of which died from malnutrition in infancy. They worked hard and made their way to California where they took work in the orange orchards. Her husband died at the young age of 43, leaving her with 6 children to support on her own. She encouraged them to learn English, taught them how to be frugal, and struggled every day of her life. In Aug of 1937, at the age of 62, she passed away.
Why would I want to have dinner with this woman? I want to tell her thank you. I would love to show her what her sacrifices have done. She brought her family to a free Country where they can pursue education and personal enrichment. Her posterity has opportunities and a quality of living that she could never have dreamed of. Every day that I wake up warm, safe, and overfed, I am painfully aware of what she did for me to be here. My gratitude for her sacrifice and the sacrifice of so many before her is without measure.