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Afrah Johar

by Maryam from Los Angeles

This is my mother with my little sister and I.  ( ())
This is my mother with my little sister and I. ( ())

When someone is homesick, they are missing their home after being away from it. Now, many people have never had this feeling. My mother did. She also had many other feelings, but unlike others, hers were sad.

Newlywed, my mother came with my father to the United States of America. Living her whole life in Egypt, she wasn't familiar with the western hemisphere at all. She did not speak English, and did not know anyone besides my father. She had to learn and adapt to a whole new lifestyle. Besides adapting to being married, she had to adapt to a new lifestyle and a new place. One of the things that were hard for her was the feeling of homesickness. She missed her home. She missed her family, friends, and her whole life. She longed for it every day and it was always on her mind, itching and bugging for her to go back. But she couldn't. She had a new life with new responsibilities and she knew that she had to accept that. This is exactly what she did.

In the midst of adapting to a new lifestyle, my mother also had to learn English. A language that was briefly taught to her while growing up. Now let me tell you, my mother is a very hardworking, and thriving person. Once she gets an idea into her head, it must be done. And she was determined to learn English. She went to adult school and worked very hard to learn the language. She noticed that many of the people who were attending adult school were fooling around and did not really care about their studies that much. This surprised her because she came from a place where education was taught in a strict manner and did not permit fooling around. This, however, helped her realize that not all people are the same as her. But this did not, in any way, stop her from learning English and eventually going to college. Now this was a big step for my mother. She felt that she wasn't ready but her teachers kept telling her that she was ready for it. So my mother went to college. Then something happened that will shift her priorities.

When my mother barely started college, she got pregnant with my elder brother. Before this, her priority was to finish her education. But with a baby on the way, she had to shift her priorities. She went to school while she was pregnant and kept going until she gave birth. She stayed at home and decided to put her education on hold. And just after a year and six months of having her first child, she got pregnant with her second, me! Having a newborn, and being pregnant was a lot to carry. She wasn't able to handle this and go to school at the same time. So again, she put her education on hold to support and raise her family.

All of these sacrifices that my mother made were for our family's benefit. And I would like to thank my mother for putting her priorities on hold for us and for doing tackling anything that life throws her way. She truly is my hero. And she proved this to me even more by deciding to get her masters years after she had stopped going to school. So now, my mother is getting her master's in education and is planning on being a teacher, and I am so very proud of her.

Page created on 2/22/2013 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 2/22/2013 12:00:00 AM

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