Narrator: Everyone has their own story to tell, their journey to follow, and their own dreams to pursue. Today, we are diving into these stories. There is a certain minority group which many of us know of but is not talked about enough. It’s Generations Under One Roof.
Welcome to Generations Under One Roof, a podcast about family, culture, and the everyday magic of living with your grandparents in the heart of California’s Imperial Valley. Around here, family isn’t just who you're born to—it's who raises you, who feeds you, and who teaches you the little things that stick for life.
Imperial Valley homes are often filled with layers of stories—grandparents, kids, and grandkids all under one roof, sharing space, time, and tradition. This podcast is about those homes—about what it means to grow up here, with two languages at the dinner table, about waking up to the smell of tortillas on the comal, and falling asleep to old stories told for the hundredth time, yet still feeling brand new. It's about the love, the laughter, the clashes, and the quiet lessons that come from living across generations.
In this episode, we’ll sit down with people from across Imperial Valley to hear their stories—the joy, the struggle, the humor, and the heritage of living in a household of history—and along the way, reflect on what it means to belong to a family that spans decades, all sharing one space, one roof, and one heart. Here, it’s not unusual for three or even four generations to live together under one roof—grandparents, parents, cousins, and kids all sharing meals, stories, and memories, sometimes all in the same room. And with that closeness comes a beautiful kind of chaos—the wisdom of the old blending with the curiosity of the young, the clashing traditions of modern life, and a resilience that gets passed down in quiet moments and loud family gatherings alike. Whether you live this life or you’re just curious about the bonds that hold families together—welcome home.
Sam: Hey guys, I'm Sam, and today we're all here because we have a shared common ground of living with our grandparents. Based on our own individual experiences, even though none of our stories are the same and they’re all very different, we all ended up living with our grandparents at some point. And even if it was for our whole lives or just a specific portion of our lives, we all ended up living there, in that environment. And I’m pretty sure we all grew up in the same Mexican households. Yeah. Where we live, we live in a very small town where a lot of families share traditions, especially from the older generation—people who have lived here their whole lives. So we all grew up in that same environment, and we just really wanted to explain that.
Dom: And I’m Dom. We're not just here to talk about it. We're also here to spread awareness about this because it’s commonly known that people live with their grandparents—like yes, it's known—but in a judgmental society, it's kind of hard to speak on it. Because you'll tell other people, and they’ll say, “Oh, just get a babysitter,” but sometimes it's just not possible.
Like, I grew up in this border town, Imperial Valley—most of us did—and it's just not a place where money goes around like that. So it was just the norm to live with your grandparents. And we're gathered here because we all shared that experience. And as much as you don't want to talk about it, it has to be said—because it just happens.
Dom: To elaborate on why I ended up living with my grandparents, it was really just a case of immigration. As a kid, I grew up going to Mexico a lot because of my dad. At the time, he was living over there, and he couldn’t get his papers to live over here. So I spent a lot of time just crossing and coming back. But he couldn't make it over here.
So my mom had to work really hard—it was just her, me, and my sister. And when she'd go to work, it would just be us and our grandparents. I didn't spend much time with my mom because she was working hard just to afford a living.
From what I recall, she used to work a lot of janitorial-type jobs. She told me stories about working at Verizon when it used to be near Vons. I know she spent a lot of time there. She also worked at a dentistry office. She tells me that story all the time. I’m really grateful for it.
She said she used to work with this really big machine. My mom is like five feet tall—super short—but she worked with this big machine and put so much effort into cleaning the dentistry floors. It just goes to show how hard she worked for us. Even though she wasn’t there all the time, she really tried for us.
As a kid, I had everything I wanted. I had toys, food, clothes. I had everything. But it was definitely strange living with my grandparents because I knew all the other kids were living with their parents. This was especially clear during school events like Honor Roll—everyone else's parents would show up, and it would be my grandma there for me. And I was just like, “Oh, another year of this.” It was sad, but I grew to appreciate it. It really showed me how hard my mom was working for us, even though she couldn’t be there all the time.
Dom: So I feel like immigration being the reason for living with grandparents is really common down here in the Valley. It connects a lot of us. This is such a Latino-populated place—it happens a lot. Immigration is more common here. You’ll see it happen more than in bigger cities. In other cities, people don’t understand. Yeah, it happens there too, but it’s more common here. And I feel like it's not talked about enough.
Dom: It takes so much to go through all of that, but I’m grateful for everything.
Evan: Hey guys, my name is Evan, and I’ll basically be talking about my grandmother’s role in my life because I also grew up with my grandparents. My grandmother wasn’t just someone who took care of me—she kind of shaped who I am today. She was my teacher, my protector, and one of my biggest supporters.
She had a way of making even the smallest moments feel special. Whether it was sitting at the kitchen table talking about life or teaching me how to cook, she always found a way to pass down wisdom without making it feel like a lesson.
But we didn’t always see eye to eye. She came from a different time, and sometimes we just didn’t understand each other. Even in those moments, I knew she loved me. She gave me a sense of home, a sense of belonging, and a strength I didn’t even realize I was learning. If I had to put it simply—she gave me everything I needed to grow. That’s what her role was in my life.
Sam: Hey guys, I’m Sam. So really, I lived with my grandparents my entire life—up to this day. I was born in Thomaston, Georgia, and my grandparents lived here in California. My mom was from here, so we moved over. Until I was about two years old, I lived with my mom and grandparents.
In all honesty, I don’t think my mom was ready to be a single parent. She was always leaving me with my grandma and grandpa. I got really close to them really fast, and instead of depending on my mom, I learned to depend on my grandparents.
My mom was always going out. Like I said earlier, she wasn’t really ready to be a single parent—it was just her. She decided, “Oh, my parents can watch her,” so she could go out. She was always going to hang out with her friends, coming back late, sometimes going on trips. I would be left with my grandparents for extended periods of time.
When that happens when you're young, you stop relying on your parents. I didn’t rely on my mom anymore. I learned that I wasn't really her first thought. So I relied on my grandparents and treated them like my parents—and I still do to this day.
Even when I got older and my mom tried to come back into my life—she even lived with me for a while—it just wasn’t the same. I had lived with my grandparents for so long that I felt like I didn’t need her. And that’s just how it was.
And like one of the other interviewees said, we don’t really have babysitters here in the Imperial Valley. We have family members to take care of us. Almost everybody in this town is related. It’s a small community. It was just me and my family, and we always stuck together.
Sam: Even though I wouldn't say I missed out on anything, just because I relied so much on my grandparents, I’m very grateful for the person I’ve become because of the way they raised me. I know they’ll always be proud of who I’ve become.
Felipe: My name is Felipe, and like the others here, I grew up with my grandparents. I’ve been with them literally since the beginning of my life. Those were the people I grew up with. They became my parents for a good chunk of my early life.
It wasn’t because my parents weren’t there for me. It wasn’t because they were deadbeats or anything. It was just because they worked so much.
My parents had me at a fair age—26 years old. That’s a decent age to start a family. But they really had to dedicate a lot of time to work just so they could afford food, clothes—all the kids' stuff. It’s expensive.
Here in the Valley, there aren’t many job options. My mom worked in retail—she worked at JCPenney most of her life until it closed. My dad lived in Mexico and was part of a music group. That’s all he did.
So while my parents were working, all I had were my grandparents. My first steps were with them in San Juan. When you're a kid, you're a sponge. You pick up everything from the people around you.
I remember my grandpa would give me tea and call it tequila. He'd hear me say something funny, and now I still say that. My grandma's stubbornness also stuck with me, just because I was with them all the time.
Looking back, I don’t regret anything. As a kid, I held a lot of resentment because I felt like my parents weren’t there. But as I grew older, I realized they were doing their best. I’m really grateful for that.
And living here in the Valley—this place—it’s like all you have is your family. You're stuck in this little pothole, and all you have is your family. No babysitters, no outsiders—just your family. I’m grateful I had mine.
Felipe: A lot of people who didn’t have the same experience might say they suffered because of it. Yeah, I think I did suffer a bit. I didn’t have a great relationship with my dad or my mom. But it didn’t affect me as negatively as it did for others.
I know people who grew up like us and ended up hating their parents for not being there. But like you said, these experiences made us stronger. They made us more understanding as we grew up.
Now, I realize it wasn’t that my parents didn’t want to be there—they were just doing what they could. I thank them for that. Now I have a great connection with my grandma and with my parents. It's great.
Dom: And I really commend you for that, because I know it’s hard. Especially coming from my point of view, it’s hard to rebuild that relationship with your parents after not seeing them for so long.
As teenagers, we have that resentment. It’s normal. Yeah, when you're a teenager, you just start hating a lot of things.
Felipe: Right. Even now, I still have a little bit of that teenager in me. I still get mad about things. But you’ve got to grow up. You’ve got to be mature. You can’t think so squarely—you have to think outside the box.
Narrator: Thanks for spending time with us here on Generations Under One Roof. These stories may be rooted in the Imperial Valley, but the heart of them—family, memory, and connection—is something many of us can relate to, no matter where you're from.
Living with grandparents isn’t always easy, but it’s rich and full of lessons we don’t always realize we’re learning until much later. It’s in the quiet nods, the passed-down recipes, and the way we carry our elders’ voices with us long after they’re gone.
If you grew up like this—surrounded by love, culture, and generations who came before you—I hope today’s episode reminded you of home. And if this life is new to you, I hope it offered a glimpse into the beauty and complexity of growing up surrounded by history, day in and day out.
Until next time, remember: some of the most powerful stories are found in the place you least expect—right under your own roof.
