One of my workers Eric travels to Canada to work on the farms in or close to Simcoe, Ontario.This year will be his third! When he returns he comes back to work for m until he is ready to leave again.
Eric has three children. ranging in age, and he and his wife are making sure their children will receive a good education. The only way they can do this is for Eric to work abroad but it also means that Eric is away from his family for a few months.
Mostly on Fridays,s the workers make their way into Simcoe to buy groceries , send monies home and a visit to a Chinese restaurant . In one of these restaurants works a friend of mine( I met her whilst she and her family were staying at The Pickled Onion on a vacation trip and we have kept in touch ) and I mention to her about Eric , described him upon which she easily recognized him and introduced herself by saying she knew me…
Last Friday the boys visited the restuarant and she asked Eric to pose for a photo and she would send it to me and to show his family . It was so exciting to do this! I printed off the photo and took it round to his house.. Oh! my goodness the boys were so excited as I explained how right now your daddy is in the Chinese restaurant as we speak! How is that possible? Dona Valeria ,said Alexi , the youngest boy.So I began explaining how it was the internet worked and he was certainly impressed as well as ….as he said… no puedo creer ! I cant believe it!
I did note however how much weight Eric had lost but then his wife told me he works at least 13 to 14 hours a day with only 4 hours sleep… What sacrifices he is making to provide a better life for his family.
I arranged to go back the following evening and take photos of the family and I would send it to my friend who would then in turn show them to Eric
Eric misses his family, especially the baby girl as his wife told me he always carried her and how the little girl, even though a baby, knew her papa was not there.
We did what we could to bring a family closer together… it was worth the effort and took so little time to do it…. Both my friend and I are happy for what we did and am sure will continue.
Thepickledonionyucatan's Blog 
What a wonderful gift for this family!
i lived in Sarnia area a few years ago, not far from Simcoe, and always respected the Mexican workers .I was aware the farmers hired Mexican workers as they couldn’t get Canadian Youths to work in the tobbaco fields, or picking corn/tomatoes, …”too.hard, or too hot” kind of work for them, so my hat goes off to young Eric he knows how to work and provide for his family. I hope we can meet him this Jan/Feb
Joan I would love for you to meet him….and really look forward to seeing you again
hugs
Valerie