I recall the multitude of times I sat on our living room couch, anticipating my parent’s return. I would rush home from school to see my grandmother waiting with a dinner table full of snacks and juices to hold me over until our evening dinner. After completing homework and assisting my sister with her assignments, I would plop down onto the couch and dive into the latest Junie B. Jones novel. Exhausted from their fifteen-hour shifts at work, my parents nevertheless, managed to trudge in with a smile plastered on to their complexions. My mother headed directly to the kitchen to warm up dinner while my father inquired about my younger sister and I’s day at school. We would respond blithely saying our days were the same as usual while devouring our mom’s lasagna from the night before, not realizing to what extent our parents toiled away.

As I aged and spent time with peers, I began to notice the subtle distinctions between their families and my own. The annual vacations, weekly game nights, and frequent outings to a different restaurant every weekend were foreign to me. When I inquired information from my parents as to why our activities differed from others I was met with the classic line of, “we will one day sweetheart, don’t worry.”

I wasn’t sure why I was so angry at the world. We had all of our basic needs and expendable cash to use at our wanting. Until one summer morning, when my mom sat me down and said “hiwett betam acher new desteniya malhon,” translating to “life’s too short to be unhappy.” Although the translated meaning is well-known and generic, that one line struck a chord within me and changed my attitude towards all of my parents’ efforts.  Traveling a distance of over 8000 miles, they left behind their only home, Ethiopia, to be able to provide for not only themselves but their future children as well. Yet, here was their eldest child, treating them as if all the hardships they went through were illegitimate and unworthy of respect. Who was I to get angry and irrational over their hard work? I had suddenly come to the revelation that everything they had done, all the hours they had worked, the time they put aside during their leisure time was all for me.

An affection that can never be broken. Gratitude that can never be reversed. My parents bestowed on me the morals and values I hold on to dearly and were it not for them, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. The habitual impulses of wanting to help others and the innate ambition I possess that influence my character was all due to my parent’s hard work. Seeing the way my family struggled to get me to where I am now makes me cherish all the valuable resources I’ve received from them. Their constant encouraging words have helped me strive to reach my dreams of going to college and having a successful future. I wouldn't have been able to find myself if it wasn’t for them and for that I will always be eternally grateful.