Grove-area woman celebrating first Independence Day as American citizen

By Kaylea M. Hutson-Miller

May 22 will forever live as a date to remember for Hazel Bradley.

That day, in 2011, she landed in Oklahoma fresh from the Philippines. Fast forward eight years later, and on May 22 of this year in Oklahoma City, she formally took the oath to become an American citizen.

Bradley said she’s excited to experience her first Independence Day as an American citizen.

“Before, it was just July 4,” she said. “We didn’t celebrate it in the Philippines like we do here. But now, I’m an American.”

Her story began in the summer of 2009. Her aunt, Dinah Anderson, who lived in Grove, suggested that a local friend, Kerry Bradley, write to the niece. The suggestion had come after Kerry Bradley jokingly asked Anderson if she had any family members who were like her — bubbly, friendly, willing to stick with him through thick and thin.

The pair began corresponding by text, email and the occasional phone call. In December 2009, he flew to the Philippines to meet Hazel in person. A visit with her family in the Mindanao province sealed the deal: He proposed, and she accepted.

“I knew the night on the beach, when we met with her family,” Kerry Bradley said. “She looked at me and said, ‘I will never, ever leave you.’ I wanted someone who could be my best friend, my partner, my soul mate — someone who I could grow old with.”

In January 2010, Kerry Bradley flew back to Oklahoma to begin the process of applying for a visa on Hazel’s behalf. He hired an attorney to handle the paperwork. More than a year later, after thousands of dollars, multiple trips to the U.S. Embassy and “stacks of paperwork,” the visa was approved.

Forty days after arriving in the U.S., the two married at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Grove. The couple, who live in rural Delaware County between Grove and Jay, marked their eighth wedding anniversary on Monday.

Life in Oklahoma

Changes were in store for Hazel Bradley as she adjusted not only to married life but also to life in rural Oklahoma. She moved from living in a city, with restaurants within walking distance, to a location where driving became a necessity. Other adjustments involved food and culture.

“But I survived,” she said with a smile, adding that she often attends parties with fellow Filipinos sharing in her native dishes.

Another change came as Bradley looked for work. In the Philippines, she worked in an office handling payroll and other administrative work for the company’s 18 branches.

In Oklahoma, when office work did not materialize, she formed a cleaning service. Eight years later, she still cleans houses. She also manages Grand Serendipity, a bed-and-breakfast located outside of Grove near Har-Ber Village.

Bradley also became a mother, welcoming son Vincent with her husband on Aug. 14, 2015. Since his birth, she has worked to find a balance between motherhood and her business, she said.

Vincent, now 3, said he loves to play with his mom. The pair can often be found at the Grove Public Library or the city’s splash pad.

Bradley is also teaching her son the Filipino language.

“I tell him he is ‘malakas,’ or ‘strong,’ and ‘gwapo,’ or ‘handsome,'” she said.

Becoming a citizen

When she arrived in 2011, she was given a one-year green card that could be renewed. After two years on that, Bradley received a 10-year visa.

In July 2018, she decided to take the plunge and become an American. During the next few months, she went through the steps required for citizenship, including a biometric scan for her fingerprints and a written test. She studied the 100 possible questions for the test, knowing she would probably only have to answer 10 or fewer.

On May 22 of this year, Bradley, her son and her mother-in-law, Judy Bradley, traveled to Oklahoma City, where she completed the final step — taking the oath of citizenship.

“It was very emotional,” Hazel Bradley said. “I was a Filipino, but now I’m an American. It was lots of changes and mixed emotions.”

But it was what she wanted, she said. Her favorite part of the ceremony came as she and other oath-takers recited the Pledge of Allegiance and then sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Watching her son observe the ceremony, waving an American flag and cheering for her was another special moment, she said.

Now that the citizenship process is complete, the Bradleys are planning a trip in December to take Vincent to visit his maternal family in the Philippines. And Hazel Bradley hopes her son will always remember the ceremony on May 22 as the day his mother became a citizen.

This story previously appeared in the July 4, 2019 issue of The Joplin Globe. http://bit.ly/GlobeFourth