Alberto and Rosa (Part 1)

He's 26 years old, and he and his brother have been working to support their family since the death of their father 9 years ago. The brothers look for work and do odd jobs to provide food for themselves and their mother. One day there's word of a program in California that is allowing immigrant labor to cross the border and help farmers since so many locals are away at war. They are able to locate a farm and begin working and saving money to bring back home. Finally, they have enough to buy a small plot of land in a small village in Mexico. They begin preparing the land and digging a well that they will use to make the adobes for their new home.She's 22, living in a small village in Mexico with her family. Her job is to find the daily water supply. Most days she must walk long distances. One day 2 young men show up on the land next door. She watches them from a distance as they begin preparing the land and digging a well. Water was so scarce and this well was so close, she begins thinking that surely they wouldn't miss a few buckets. So she watches and waits till they aren't around, then slips over and draws a bucket of water from their well.And thus the game begins….he works and she watches….until one day, she isn't quite as careful as usual and he walks up on her as she was drawing the water, she is so startled and when he asks what she is doing…… she nervously apologizes, telling him that she is just getting a little water and that she will dump it back in the well……. he tells her that she can keep it and that she is welcome to get water from his well every day. Their eyes have crossed and the rest is history….. Today, he's 85 and she's 81 and they have just finished another peach season at Pearson Farm. Rosa and Alberto and their children have been a huge part of the Pearson Farm Family as well as the peach industry in Middle Georgia for the past 30 years.Their farming experience is extensive but more impressive than their knowledge of agricultural practices is their sense of family. The brothers along with their mother have lived and traveled together their entire lives. The brothers married sisters and between the two families, had 15 children. In the early ‘70's, the brothers petitioned for visas for their families to travel to the United States with them, and in 1974, they moved to Florida to begin work in the citrus groves. After years of traveling up and down the east coast in pickup trucks as migrant workers in tobacco fields, peach and apple orchards, cucumber and blueberry patches, they eventually end up at Pearson Farm looking for work after the Florida's citrus crop was destroyed by a late frost. Does this sound familiar??? It should, remember Israel and Maribel that we highlighted earlier during the year? They are the 2 of Alberto and Rosa's children who currently work at Pearson Farm but what you might not know is that every one of their 8 children along with Alberto's brother, Rosa's sister and their 7 children have at some time over the past 30 years drawn a pay check from Pearson Farm. Family working with Family working with Family…..check back with us next week as we continue their story……..