"It was that familiar feeling again of leaving yet another place we had once called home, just before the landlord came to evict us. Only this time it was my mother, my sister, and me. In the past we had looked to my stepfather for guidance. Now we had to make it on our own." Born into struggling circumstances in Mexico City in 1931, Don would soon learn from his mother, "We may be broke, but we are never poor." As a child and young teen living with his mother and sister, Don would live through many days of only one meal, or in some instances, no meals. From the dark side of hunger, he began to dream what many would term the impossible dream. Just before he turned 18, Don discovered that he had been a citizen of the United States since birth. He immediately traveled across the border to start a new life. A life he had only been able to dream about as a young, determined thirteen-year-old living in Mexico City.