Family

10/09/2012

Family

Unlike other Hispanic families there were only four of us while growing up, sister, mother and father. I was fortunate enough to have cousins, uncles, aunts and grandparents. However, they did not live with or near us. The closes family I had was thousands of miles away in a different country. At a very early age my parents decided to move to the United States in search of a better future for them and us. Although I appreciate the outcome and value the privileges of living in a first world country I can’t help thinking what kind of childhood I would have experienced living and growing aside family. I deeply appreciate everything my parents have done for us, it was definitely difficult to go through holydays, birthdays and celebrations without the rest of the family.  I think this may be seen to other individuals as unfortunate or in a negative way but I think this fact alone has defined my family.  I think of us as a cinder block that needs four sides to be strong and maintain stability, we have learned to recognized feeling, emotions and behaviors without the need for words. I consider my family a strong entity that works together to reach a greater purpose, the purpose of happiness. We maintained this cinderblock analogy up to 4 years ago. In June 2007 my son was born, two new additions to my family were made, my beautiful wife and my loving son. Now that I have a family of own I see things differently, I realize that a parent would do anything in their power to protect and ensure a good life for their little ones. I never judged my parents actions or decisions but I constantly questioned, why I had to grow up without knowing what living and counting on cousins, grandparents and family. I now know why and I would probably do the same if it meant giving my son a better future or opportunity to succeed in life.