My mother, Amna Pervaiz Bajwa, was born in 1978 and grew up in Pakistan. My whole life I have heard stories about her childhood but I never really asked how she moved to America or why she decided to. My mom received her American citizenship in 1995 after waiting for 15 years. Although this may seem like a long time, she explained to me that her family was not in a rush to move to America. She obtained her citizenship through her aunt, my Grandma’s older sister, who was living in Houston at the time. At the time, my mom’s older sister, did not qualify for citizenship as she was married and 21. This caused a lot of stress for my mom as she was turning 21 in a few months but luckily she was still eligible. Even though she was an American citizen she moved the United States for college in 2001 and attended a school in Denton, Texas. Funnily enough when my mom’s name was mixed up as my great aunt added the letter I to her name so legally she is now Amina.
My dad’s story is a little different. My dad, Muneeb Khan, is Pakistani as well, but he was born in England and grew up there and Saudi Arabia. After completing college in Manchester, my dad sought for different jobs and decided to apply for one in America. My dad is pretty religious and my grandma tells me how him and her prayed for the best job. A few days went by and my dad was still waiting for a response from said company when my grandmother had a dream that my dad was boarding a yellow american school bus. When she woke up she ran over to my dad and told him not to fret and that he would get the job. Sure enough he did! From then on, my dad has lived in the United States for over 20 years and somehow still insists on being a New Yorker despite living in New Jersey.
Pictured: My family wearing traditional Pakistani clothes on Eid in Houston.
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