Grateful

   The last time I went back to my parents' hometown was when I was 4 years old. I feel bad for not visiting my family there, but it's hard to find the time and money to go there. If I do go, I would have to stay there for at least a month and I can't afford to take off a month from everything. My parents and other family members would always tell me stories about their childhood and it breaks my heart hearing about how much they struggled before they moved to America.

   My mom has four sisters and one little brother and when they were growing up, they lived with their grandparents too, so they had a total of ten family members in the house. They struggled everyday because they had low-income and feeding ten mouths everyday was not easy. My grandma always told me how my mom worked the hardest to support the family and it made me feel bad for not appreciating my mom enough. My mom and I always have our ups and downs, but she's been there for me through everything. The hardest thing to hear was that I had an uncle that passed away from an infection at about 5 months of age. He was born before my second uncle. During that time, my grandpa was in jail and my grandma didn't want to write to him about his son passing away at such a young age. So, she never told him about his son's death until he was released out of jail. I can't even imagine how hard it must of been for my family, but I'm glad they made it through and never gave up.
                                                         A picture of my parents' town.

   My dad only has one brother and one sister and he was a little more fortunate than my mom's family. They also struggled with poverty, but had less family members living in their house. My dad worked hard to support the family and he started to learn English because he knew he was going to move to America one day. My grandparents from both sides of the family were close friends,so hat's how my parents met. And also how one of my aunts and uncles met. I know it's weird, they basically married each other's brother and sister-in-laws. My cousin Monica and I are the closest to each other because we're a lot alike, but also very different. We're only 5 months apart and sadly, she just moved to Florida a couple months ago. But, good for her, I wish I lived in Florida.
                                                 A picture with my parents, brother and aunt.

  When my parents got married, my dad and uncle moved to America first to settle down and after a couple of months, my mom and my aunt moved together. They all ran a restaurant business in Cincinnati, Ohio where I was also born and raised up until I was seven years old.. then moved to the good ole' Jersey. I've moved about six times before the current house. It's the most expensive house my parents has ever bought and the longest we've lived in a house. I definitely believe they deserved it after all those years of hard work. I look forward to the day I can provide for my family, so they won't have to work anymore.