I had a free call last year to learn about getting dual citizenship. I began gathering the documents, hit a giant brick wall, and gave up. I was okay with pausing the process at the time. I accepted that I had enough family tree stuff to work on and that I could put that on the back burner.
Last week I decided to Google “Ecuador Dual Citizenship” to see what came up. The EcuaAssist page was one of the first results. I have seen and clicked on this page before always looking at the free consultation call page but Xing out of the page. I decided to go for it. It was a free call. I do want dual citizenship. If it didn’t go well, I would be exactly where I am now – with no dual citizenship.
The person that did the call was very friendly, asked questions to learn more about me and family, and gave me the information I was trying to figure out. I shared my frustration with doing so much research and having so little family information. They asked about the last name. I told them the last name is Sanchez and shared the story of the little information I have including his dad left when they were young, their mom died, and their sister took care of them but we don’t really have any information.
They asked me where they had lived. I shared how I had their birth certificate and it showed Pelileo. This next part was like a warm hug of hope. They said it was a smaller town and people often know each other. We talked about how I wanted to go there. They encouraged me that if I went I would be welcome and even if the people answering the doors weren’t my family I would be treated as family. They also told me how in Ecuador there are no “No Soliciting Signs.” I talked about how I tried Ancestry.com to find people. They shared how there is no Ancestry.com in Ecuador. This part had never crossed my mind. The call ended with me sharing I would try to plan a trip and get back to them when I had more information.
I ended the call.
The tears began flowing down my face. The thought of just knocking on doors and people being friendly willing to help me in my search along with potentially meeting new family members was overwhelming.
I did the call to find out the documents I needed. I left learning of this soft area of kindness, acceptance, and friendliness. It could be a place I don’t have to try so hard or work a little more. It could be a place I wander through learning, growing and changing.
The tears disappeared for a little until I thought of another time that reminded me of that soft place. My grandparents used to have people over and I would hide under the table. I have thought of his often as I have explored neurodiversity alongside of sensory issues, feeling uncomfortable in social situations, and literally trying to disappear – or just doing it without even trying. Under this table I remember sitting. I was allowed to stay there. No one told me it wasn’t proper, to get out, or that I needed to do something else.
Maybe Ecuador would be the same experience. Maybe Ecuador has been ineerwoven in these experiences all along but I just didn’t know. There was a new door that opened with this phone call.
A door of potential family, dual citizenship, and my identity aligning even further wih my culture – and who I have been all along.