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Op Comic: My Mexican grandfather’s infinite garden

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In a survey by the nonprofit KFF and the Los Angeles Times, immigrants were asked about their experiences living in the U.S. Despite the constant struggles the majority reported, the common theme among ethnicities, places of origin and cultures was optimism. Most people faced financial hardship, fear of deportation, low-paying jobs and discrimination. My grandparents, both from Mexico, overcame incredible obstacles, endured poverty and even survived a violent hate crime that nearly ended my grandfather’s life. All of this was to provide for the generations that followed. It’s a goal echoed in the survey. Through my grandfather’s story, I wanted to show that this country is — and has always been — made better by immigrants.

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In the early 1960s my grandfather Salvador Hernandez immigrated to Southern California from Guadalajara, Jalisco.
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Despite being orphaned and lacking a formal education my grandfather labored endlessly for his family working in agriculture
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In later years he worked as a street vendor. He grew nopales in his backyard and piled them in a granny cart to sell on foot
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Once in my early 20s, I was with friends at a taco shop when he entered the restaurant with a full cart and sold out.
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Clad in his daily uniform — 1970s button up, leather jacket, ranchero pants, booths, cowboy hat — he looked at me lovingly.
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I spent a lot of time at his and my grandmother's house as a child, playing in a garden of greenery he grew effortlessly.
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I spent a lot of time at my grandma's side watching novelas and church sermons in Spanish or if I was lucky American cartoons
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My grandfather passed in 2017. His life of integrity, diligence, hard work, sacrifice was over. His garden represented that.
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Now I've come to see my life, along with the lives of my siblings and cousins, as the continuation of his garden.

Fifi Martinez is a Chicano cartoonist in Los Angeles.@baby_misery

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