A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son Quotes

“I made many decisions, some awful and others brilliant, but I found ways to keep that openness in my soul that meant more to me than breathing. I told them over the years what I was doing, how I was trying what no one in my family had ever tried to do. When I was failing, I admitted that as well, and they listened politely. I also knew that’s all they could do. One lonely night in Connecticut, I pulled myself from a window’s ledge. No one else next to me. Another day I chose to do something someone like me should have never accomplished, and yet I did, and kept going. I learned to recognize when others, like Jean, were much better than me, because they had faith in my soul. I believed in very little, but I kept going until I would get tired or defeated, and then I would take time to discover another wall to throw myself at. I was, and I am, and I will be, a peculiar kind of immigrant’s son. I got old, and that made everything better, including me.”
― Sergio Troncoso, A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son

“I believe the root of this strength of will came from my mother and father, from the work they taught me to do in the borderlands, the work that had broken many backs, the work that was a scream against the desert dust, this work that taught me about the song of nothingness in my bones and why the only way to live was to die on my feet.”
― Sergio Troncoso, A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son