LOS ANGELES — Last year, LA Times staff writer Esmeralda Bermudez posed a simple question on her twitter feed: What jobs did your parents work to get you where you are today?

Then, thousands of responses poured in from all over the country and beyond. Esmeralda discussed some of the responses she got.

She started off by sharing a bit about her own mother —an immigrant from El Salvador who worked as a nanny and a garment factory worker and also cleaned houses, polished car rims, drilled holes in doorknobs, and steam pressed people’s clothes.

“This is about the celebration of a pledge. A pledge that exists between immigrant parents and their children, and it’s that parent saying to the child, 'I’m going to work for you, I’m going to work so hard for you. I’m going to sacrifice for you.' And it’s the child saying to the parents, 'I’m going to translate for you I’m going to protect you, I'm going to guide you or help you navigate these spaces in America. Where sometimes America might not value you as much as you should be valued.' And in that pledge is a pledge that exists for life. A lot of us immigrants in many cases end up being our parent’s retirement fund and we’re proud of that. We carry them on our shoulders, and they carry us on our shoulders and this is what this story was meant to do,” said Bermudez.

Frances Wang, a TV news anchor, responded to Bermudez’s question. She proudly shared the many jobs her mom, Corrina, worked after she left China for the US. Her mom has worked as a corner store clerk, waitress, tour guide, owned a computer software company, co-founded a Chinese lantern festival, owned mall kiosks, phone accessories wholesale, and was a property owner/manager.

Another response was from an actor whose mom sold roses at night clubs, was a housekeeper, a nanny, and a dog walker.

Even the Attorney General of the state of California, Xavier Becerra gave a response. His mom was a clerical worker and his dad was a construction worker.

“I think the beautiful part of this was not just the lists, but also the memories that this evoked. People in those days were thinking about remembering the sweat on their father’s forehead after coming home from working at the mechanic shop, the cuts and bruises on their mother’s hands, the sounds of those sewing machines. You know, turning into the night to try and make ends meet for the family,” Bermudez added.

In this country, there is so much pressure to rise, to make something of yourself, and to pay back all the sacrifices your parents did for you. Sometimes people wonder if they’re the only ones who go through what they do or if they’re the only ones whose parents worked certain jobs.

“This story was my way of saying, Absolutely not! You are not alone. We’re all out here. We’re all at different levels,” said Bermudez.

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Bermudez adds that her initial story on social media was to share a moment where her mom as a housekeeper took her first LA Times article, her first front-page story, to her boss. And her boss couldn’t believe that her house keeper’s daughter worked at the LA Times and she was baffled by it. That was a moment of tremendous pride for Bermudez’s mother.

She thinks a lot of immigrant parents of children who have reached high places, carry that pride with them.

A local artist named Ramiro Gomez was also mentioned in the story and he met Bermudez 10 years ago. His work revolves around domestic workers and day laborers working in some of the wealthiest areas in Los Angeles and how those people often go unnoticed.

Bermudez said, “He would create these life-size cardboard cutouts of these workers and would put them in front of the Beverly Hills hotel and say, 'here notice them.' And his art was the perfect art to illustrate this story."