air that was heavy. my mother and i lived in a small house. we slept in the same bed. we were always together. we were inseparable. one morning, my mother woke me up. my suitcase was packed, a cab waited outside for me. when i got to the airport, i was introduced to a man i had never met. he held my hand as i boarded an airplane for the first time. it was 1993. i was 12. >> hi. i'm jose antonio vargas contributing for cnn.com. >> jose antonio vargas of "the washington post" thank you for your insight. >> jose vargas is from the huffington post in new york. >> jose antonio vargas is a pulitzer prize winning journalist.