And the Academy Award goes to….

So for the last week and half (or the last two weeks my minds a blur right now), I have been arduously working on my new and improved hardship letter. It required a lot of internet research, research at the library, book reading and input from friends to prepare for it. Right now it’s approximately six pages long and it’s filled with very good hardcore facts.

So what’s a hardship letter?

First I should explain to some of you what a hardship letter is. In a nutshell, it’s up to me to prove an extreme hardship if I am forced to move to Mexico. A very daunting task when I was first presented with it. Needless to say, the first letter I write was written incorrectly. It was far too emotional and it didn’t really state any facts/hardships. But then again, it was written over a year ago and I didn’t have any real life changing events happen to me or Aaron. Ironically, the US government is only interested in how a denial will affect me and Aaron. They don’t care what Eduardo has to say but rather they only care what I have to say. It kind of reminds of parents attitude with their children… “I don’t care what happens to so and so, I want to know what happens to my son/daughter!”

You can’t understand how happy I am to finally finish it. Here are some things that I have learned. Ask, ask, ask for help. My friend, Hilary A., has been a great blessing and source of information for me. She was always encouraging and gave me many ideas to work with. When I was feeling particularly discouraged about a bad phone call with the Consulate office or with the National Visa Center she was the first to tell me to ignore it/them. I can’t thank enough the wonderful people at I2US.net. Seriously, I owe them a lot for all their help and contributions.

Finally I thank God Almighty for enlightening the path. I’ve often felt ignored and left behind because things were just not going right for my family. I felt that I was often alone in the crowd always jumping up trying to catch God’s attention. But He has never left me nor forsaken me.

Praise God for that!