Susan Snyder
is an Inquirer staff writer
I have spent many New Year's Eves circling the block with an empty suitcase in my hand.
My sister-in-law insisted. It's her custom, brought here from Mexico, to ensure happy travels in the year ahead. We had to wear red underwear, too, and eat 12 grapes, making a wish upon each one.
But my sister-in-law, Azucena "Sid" Snyder, has brought me more than New Year's customs.
Sid is one of the most generous and loving people I have ever met, and she has brought an intimacy, warmth, and strong sense of family to my siblings and parents, who at times lacked that closeness.
She shares her children with me and tells me I am their "second mother." She calls her younger, Jada, "mini Susie," because she so resembles me when I was a child. That means everything to a woman who loves children but will never have kids of her own.
Most of all, she has shown me that while governments can make borders between peoples, they are powerless to create divisions between hearts, an important thing to remember as the government takes up immigration reform.
Sid, 39, met my brother, Michael, 42, on a visit to the United States in 1995. She came on a tourist visa and returned to Mexico when it expired. She returned on tourist visas several times, and she and my brother fell in love and married. They have two children, Jada, 9, and Daren, 17.
For years, Sid had thought about taking that final step and becoming a full U.S. citizen - when she married my brother she became a "permanent resident" - but life always seemed to get in the way, including raising my nephew and niece.
About a year ago, she decided it was time. With citizenship, she would be able to vote and serve on a jury, among other rights and responsibilities. She studied, passed a test, was fingerprinted, and filed papers.
In late December, she and my brother invited me to attend her official naturalization ceremony at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration offices at 16th and Callowhill Streets in Philadelphia.
I was thrilled to be able to share this special day with Sid, who has become the sister I never had.
Though she moved to the United States, she continues to embrace her culture and share it with us. My brother and Sid periodically return to Mexico to visit her family. Most recently, they went in October for the Day of the Dead celebration, another custom she wanted her children to experience.
She and my brother, who live in Allentown, have become involved with a group of friends made up of Latina women from different countries who have married American men. And, as a recruiter for the Pennsylvania Migrant Education Program, administered by Millersville University, she helps people from other countries.
As much as she loves Mexico and her culture, she also has had a long-standing love affair with the United States, an affinity she began to feel before coming here. It is the land of hope and dreams that she grew up hearing about - and many of us grow up taking for granted.
She listened to American music and watched American shows and pretended to speak English.
"When I was a young child, I used to tell my friends, 'Oh, I went to Disney World.' It wasn't true," she said. "I was just making it up because that was my dream, to go to Disney World and New York City and meet the Statue of Liberty."
The country has lived up to her expectations. She has made it to Disney World - twice - and regularly visits New York City.
"I feel safe. I feel like I have more opportunities here," she said.
She was one of 65 new citizens from 35 countries who filled the large room at the immigration offices on that December day, along with dozens of family and friends.
"Congratulations, you're now citizens of the United States," the immigration official said, as the room filled with applause and cheers. President Obama welcomed the group in a videotaped message.
Sid welled up with tears when she looked at the flag, now her flag.
"I have no regrets. I love this land and I love Mexico, too," she said. "It's like having two moms. And finally, this one accepted me officially."