I was 6 or 7 years old when my parents told me we were going to the United States. We sold off all of our belongings. EVERYTHING. Somehow, it didn’t register in my mind that we weren’t coming back to Venezuela.
I asked my mom to take a photo of me with some of my favorite toys before she sold them. I’m glad to have this photo. It reminds me of my kangaroo mama with its baby Joey. It also reminds me that giving up what I have isn’t so bad when I suspect something better is on its way.
Coming to the United States was definitely worth giving up my toys!
The hardest thing to give up though was growing up with my extended family, who all stayed behind. There were no more lively parties at Grandma’s house (she wasn’t really a rocking chair kind of grandma #fancypartygrandma) and no more dancing and jokes with my aunts and uncles. I never got to attend any of my grandparents’ funerals. I mourned not growing up with my cousins, great aunts, my language, rich family culture, and so forth. We left it all behind.
I have wondered before if it was worth leaving all that behind. While family and history is harder to leave behind than toys, coming to the United States indeed has been worth giving it all up.
My eyes have been opened to freedoms (that most Americans definitely don’t fully appreciate) and opportunity for growth beyond what we had imagined possible. Just by having access to human rights and Constitutional freedoms, I feel empowered to grow as much as I want and give help and support further than I previously thought I could. I know I’m in the right place at the right time for a divine God-blessed reason.
Am I grateful to have sacrificed so much to be here today? Am I willing to sacrifice more in the future when I suspect a greater good is on its way?
The answer is yes.