All For Granted by Danielle Hu (ebook reader browser TXT) 📖

We were poor.

A lone chair stood dead center in the middle of a one-room apartment, and that was it. Smoke and pollution filled my fragile lungs in the filthy neighborhood. I was hardly aware of money's true value at that time, but I didn't care. My mom would take me whenever she could to swing on some rusty swings, or to simply take a stroll around the block. I would laugh hysterically at the size difference between my dad's foot and mine.

We were poor, but we were happy.

Imagine leaving a high government position and going to a country halfway around the globe, only to juggle random jobs where people only tip you a dollar after biking in pouring rain to deliver pizza. Did I know what was happening with my parents? Of course not, but my oblivion didn't hurt the situation. I giggled at the smallest things; oh, the joys of being young. I never wanted to grow up.

But as time passed, I wanted more. I grew up.

Remember those times… times when nothing went right and you always thought your life was so stressful, so unfair, so pointless.

Adolescence took its toll. We moved innumerable times from town to town, finally settling in a pleasant four-bedroom house in the suburbs. I started throwing tantrums, ignoring everyone around me, but most importantly, contemplating the point of life, only to realize that there is none. The relationship with my parents drastically changed.

The one daughter they worked so hard to support and provide for turned into their enemy. The daughter tried though, she kept all her grades up, played sports and instruments and was seen as perfect in the eyes of others. For some reason she just thought her best was never enough.

I will never have those days of laughter shared with mom and dad. I will never giggle at the size difference between my dad's feet and mine.

I will, however, have my share of mistakes in life. True mistakes; not mistakes when getting problems wrong on a test, but life-changing mistakes. Illegal mistakes. Through all the times when everything seemed to be ripped away, when virtually everyone around me abandoned me, my mom and dad were the ones who were always there, despite the years I have shut them out from my life.

My parents came to this country not to only set up a strong foundation for future generations to build upon, but to also set a bar for future generations to reach for, and raise. They put their entire life on the line and gave it their all to make a living. They struggled to set an example, and they did.

Sadly, I wasn't strong enough to live up to them, so I isolated myself from them.

Not until recently did I realize that family is really all you have in this world. Friends leave, pets pass away, and bonds can be altered in an instant. In this withering economy, nothing is guaranteed. Even money can cause negative effects. The people who raised you and whom you grew up with are the ones you look up to and the ones that will always be there for you.

Love is defined by how well people can see through your flaws into the goodness in the depths of your heart. It is defined by how much trust and devotion one still has for you after countless betrayals and fights. A family can put up with a countless number.

It doesn't matter who one ends up being. It doesn’t matter if you have a house full of furniture, or only one chair in a one-room apartment. Memories that last a lifetime can be made in dirty streets with the people you love.

The future is always a mystery; the past will always stick. No one knows what is to happen, but one will always remember the relationships in the past, the bonds made when loved ones help you through times of need. One tends to always be apprehensive because no one knows what is to come. But as time passes, what one once feared is what he or she will cherish forever.

I am happy.

Publication Date: 02-09-2010

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