I have learned that being surrounded by the people who love you and care for you can heal a wound from a terrible tragedy. Having fun, spending time with relatives or just talking to friends and family can help me forget any pain or problem I am enduring. It might still be on the back of my mind or it might come back once in a while, but since my friends and family surround me, their joy spreads unto me; for a moment, I feel happy despite all the problems I am going through. After a while, the pain will disappear unexpectedly.
I realized this as I look back into the past when my family and I were flying back
and forth from the Philippines to America. We first moved to America when I was two
years old in 1994. Then, we moved back to the Philippines after six years. After seven
more years of living in the Philippines, we had to move back again to America. Both
countries had such different lifestyles and having to imagine the adjustments we had to
make, the sacrifices we had to take and what we had to cope up with was not as easy as
it seemed to be. Plus, there was a lot of stuff we were emotionally connected to but had
to part from, such as homemade cooking, local markets, friends, relatives, etc. Even
though we had experienced life in each country for a long period of time in our pasts, it
still took time to adjust. However, we managed to adapt and move on by helping each
other out. My family and I would do everything together just to forget whatever we were
missing. We would talk and laugh all day long; we would spend a lot of time with each
other – just knowing they were there helped a lot. Each one of us knew the others were
hurting inside, but we set our emotions aside to make each other feel better. We were not
only healing our wounds inside, but we were also bonding and creating a much tighter
ribbon around our relationship. I had been blind throughout my life thinking of myself
only, but my family helped me open my eyes to see something more important and worth
thinking of – them. They might not know it, but they healed the wound in me.
This lesson will remain in the back of my mind and in the bottom of my heart
every time I stumble over a problem or when I have to apart from something I cherish
dearly. I have learned a lot in my life, but knowing I am surrounded by the people who
love me and care for me can heal a wound from a terrible tragedy will help me through
the rough times. The wound might still be there, but it will slowly fade away when I look
into the eyes of those who love and care for me and when I see the joy that their mind,
heart and soul are wanting for me to have.