My parents left almost everything behind when they moved to Canada with my sister and me, aged three and one, in the spring of 2000.
asserted
they → leave → 2000
We had spent our last Christmas in Colombia just months before.
asserted
We → spend → Colombia
My mom tells me they left their professional careers, said goodbye to their large families and support systems, and packed what they could into suitcases.
uncertain
they → tell → suitcases
We were fortunate to arrive as permanent residents who had been financially stable back home and faced no direct threat to our safety.
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who → arrive → safety
My dad dreamt of furthering his education in Canada, and my mom was open to the move at a time when abductions in Colombia were rampant and sometimes targeted children.
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abductions → dream → children
Colombia became known as the kidnapping capital of the world — non-governmental organization Pais Libre reported 3,500 kidnappings there in the year 2000 alone.
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Libre → know → year
(The situation has improved since then, and Pais Libre closed its doors in 2017.)
asserted
Libre → improve → 2017
When we arrived in Toronto, their savings dwindled fast.
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savings → arrive → Toronto
We spent the first month in hotels downtown, and then, in Toronto’s competitive rental market, my parents set aside a year’s worth of rent to secure a North York apartment that wasn’t cheap.
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that → spend → apartment
The difference in spending power they had in Colombia compared to Canada when they exchanged pesos for dollars was another hit.
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they → spend → dollars
While my mom — a journalist and human resources specialist — stayed home to take care of my sister and me, my dad looked for work in his field.
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dad → stay → field
He had a degree in psychology with specializations in human resources and statistics, and searched for months to no avail.
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He → have → avail
They were both still getting a handle on English.
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They → get → English
Eventually, my dad took up a two-week stint as a janitor in a mall before getting an overnight job at a call centre.
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dad → take → centre
It wasn’t what he had hoped for, but it was a decision he made for the family.
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he → hop → family
Still, the minimum-wage job was just barely enough to sustain the four of us.
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job → sustain → us
The approaching winter meant more expenses were on the horizon; we needed appropriate coats, mitts, scarves, hats and boots after moving from the much-more-temperate Bogotá.
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we → approach → Bogotá
Our first Canadian Christmas presented a challenge of its own.
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Christmas → present → own
Back home, our tradition was to spend the holiday with our aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins.
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tradition → spend → aunts
Children would receive presents from everyone.
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Children → receive → everyone
So, my parents were grappling with the loneliness of leaving the family behind and the financial impossibility of paying for gifts.
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parents → grapple → gifts
But a City of Toronto program made a massive difference.
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program → make → difference
At the time, my parents knew next to nothing about the social services available to them — they didn’t even find out about the Canada Child Tax Benefit until the next year when they did their taxes.
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they → know → taxes
However, my mom says someone in her English as a Second Language class told her about a place where parents could submit the names and ages of their children, supported by documentation, and pick up free gifts for them a few days before Christmas.
uncertain
parents → say → Christmas
My mom has told us this story many times — how she arrived to claim the presents, assuming there would be one for each child, when a man behind a counter handed her an enormous black bag packed with gifts.
uncertain
man → tell → gifts
With the little English she had at the time, she tried to clarify that there were “ONLY two children.”
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she → have → time
The man assured her he’d be right back, and returned with yet another bag, just as big as the first, packed with presents.
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he → assure → presents
She was stunned.
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She → stun → ?
The bags had dolls, toy tea sets, storybooks, toques, socks and mitts.
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bags → have → dolls
There were so many gifts that my parents chose to spread them out through Christmas, Easter, our birthdays the following year, friends’ birthday parties we were invited to, even tooth fairy visits.
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we → be → Christmas
When I spoke with my parents for this story, they couldn’t quite remember what that program was.
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program → speak → story
But after doing some research, I found that the City of Toronto ran a “Christmas Bureau” from 1956 until 2011, helping to distribute gifts to as many low-income families as possible.
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City → do → families
By 2000, the program was connecting donors with families and providing information to distributors on behalf of roughly 600 agencies, the province, and companies like CHUM-City and the Toronto Star.
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program → connect → City
That year, it helped more than 111,000 children receive presents.
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children → help → presents
My mom was extremely touched by the generosity of our new country, and the gesture that brought my parents so much peace.
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that → touch → peace
My sister and I were over the moon with our new toys, she says.
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she → say → toys
“Immigrating is a really difficult thing — it’s truly for the brave,” she tells me.
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she → immigrate → me
“It’s leaving a wholly-constructed life to start over in a place where you don’t know anything or what lies ahead.
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what → leave → anything
She reiterates that we were lucky, of course, not to be fleeing war or personal hardship.
asserted
we → reiterate → war
Hearing her tell that story, I’m grateful, too — to my parents for their constant efforts to give us a happy childhood, even when they had little means, and to Canada for welcoming us with open arms and supporting us when we faced hard times.
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we → hear → times
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
