Today is my dad's birthday, he's lived in the U.S. now for 20 years. Most of which have been a struggle for him to keep his family afloat, and at no time has he given up. Feeling helpless and frustrated I'm sure. All of the financial responsibility falling on his shoulders as neither my mom nor I can contribute. My only contribution comes as making some money tutoring, or as I like to call it, babysitting. That at least frees him up from having to give me spending money.
Despite our troubles he has never taken the easy way out and made the family live where rent is cheap. He has kept us in areas where access to education is plenty. Keeping his priorities straight, making sure the family is safe and my brother and I have access to educational institutions.
Money has always been one of the most challenging issues with us. Being away at college it was so easy to get lost in the fantasy that I was like everyone else. It was after all what my mom wanted for me, to forget about the limits in my life and enjoy myself in college to the fullest. I did, but I ran with it and it got me into troubles a couple times, with my parents threatening to cancel the credit card.
This taught me to create a balance. It wasn't easy as I sometimes felt the weight of the entire situation at once and had many breakdowns because of it. It may have been over-dramatic but I pretty much went into college having just found out the gravity of the situation. The longer I was in school, the more I understood it and I came to hate it and learned to live with it.
So if there's one thing I have learned from my dad it's to keep persevering no matter the obstacles because there is always a solution, never lose sight of your goals in life and always work hard no matter how hard.
Originally Posted: Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 2:02pm
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