Johnny Louangphom
ENG 100 Assignment #1 Hiraeth Draft #2 It all Began in West Philadelphia 4099 Powelton Ave to be exact. This was the house that me and my family were living in when they came from Laos. A three story red brick house with a grey metal door. The red and grey porch was my favorite place to hang out. As you look around you can see that the windows were bolted with metal bars so that no one would be able to break in, I guess you can say I lived in a bad neighborhood. The people outside making loud noises getting drunk and fighting each other over drugs made us scared and mad but we couldn't do nothing about it. My family didn't come to America rich. We only had enough live and maintain that was the best we can do at that point. Christmas is coming and that was the only thing we were looking forward to. Just like any ordinary kid one of your favorite holiday is Christmas. Christmas is a holiday where you spend time with your family exchanging gifts. The fairy tale of Santa Claus coming down the chimney at night dropping off present if you had been a good kid that year. The big tree in our living room was huge I couldn't believe the size or maybe because I was small haha! The lights shined so bright like the stars in the sky. All my uncles, aunts, and cousins were enjoying the time of our lives! A moment I would never forget. The following year my dad decided out of Philadelphia and into our new house in Upper Darby a week before Christmas, which was a horrible idea because we were running around trying to get everything situated but time wasn't on our side. My mom and dad knew that the house wasn't gonna be done in time for Christmas but they never told us because they didn't want us to be sad or overwhelmed. Our new house was not as big as our first house but it was in a way better area. The two story twin home with an indoor porch was cool and I had the only room with a balcony. The kids on the block were nice and everyone was getting ready to celebrate Christmas. As a couple of days goes by my brothers and I tried everything we could to help our parents, we wanted our first Christmas in our new house to be amazing. Christmas was approaching and there was still no tree or present. The night before Christmas I went to sleep early because I figured we weren't gonna celebrate Christmas this year. Morning has arrived and its Christmas day I see bright lights as I walked out of my room I didn't pay no mind to it, just thought someone was watching TV. As I walked down the stairs I spot a lit up tree with tons of present underneath them. Then I looked to the right to see my mom and dad passed out on the couch, guessing they had been up all night setting up while my brothers and I were asleep. We gathered around the tree and exchange gifts, you could see the happiness and joy on our faces. My parents made it possible with everything going on. The best Christmas ever! Thinking that Christmas was gonna be the same every year, I thought wrong. My life was slowly falling apart we were on the verge of getting evicted. My oldest brother had got into some trouble with the police and was sentenced to ten to fifth-teen years in prison for trying to keep a roof over our head. Christmas would not be the same without him. As the years go by it was hard not having my brother there for Christmas but we visited him to make sure that he wasn't left out. I couldn't imagine the pain he was in being locked behind bars year after year waiting for another chance at freedom. In 2007 I received the worst news of my life. My second oldest brother was killed in a motorcycle accident after a car had cut him off coming off a side block. Our hearts were heavy and the pain was unbearable. Christmas wasn't like it used to be, we barely enjoyed ourselves, and was not as happy as we should be. It was tough not having my brothers around for Christmas it felt as if apart of our happiness had died. We knew we had to be happy for Christmas, my brother would've never wanted us to feel this way because of him instead of mourning, we celebrated because that's what he would've wanted. In 2013 just when I thought things couldn't get any worst my dad was getting ill we didn't know what was wrong with him. We took him to the doctor to get him checked out and received news that he was sick with lung cancer. My father got lung cancer from working heating and air conditioning and never work a mask so the insulation dust got into his body. As the days past my dad was getting sicker and sicker everything was different. He wasn't the same and I knew I had to spend every minute of the day with him. January 14 2011 I was sitting right next to dad in hospice when he had lost his life to cancer. The pain an suffering is over and Buddha had plans for him. My mother and I were lost, we didn't know what to do or expect knowing that this Christmas it was just gonna be me and her. Christmas wasn't so bad that year we visited my brother and exchanged gifts. I would do anything to go back and relive that perfect Christmas but cannot due to the circumstances that happen over the years. I wish it was just a dream and that I could wake up from this nightmare. Things started to get better my brother recently got out of prison in April of 2016 the system gave my family hope. They gave my brother another chance at freedom. My mom cried tears of joy to have her son back it made me happy to see her like that. Christmas this year was gonna be better! we celebrated a little differently we had a nice size tree and tried to light it up like the stars in the sky. We put pictures of my dad and brother around the tree. The good old feeling of happiness, being able to enjoy Christmas once again. Life can be very tough unexpected things can happen but just know that you will always find light and the end of the tunnel. With everything that has happened we are grateful for everything. we didn't give up when times got rough instead we stuck by each other and help go through this process together. Better Days are ahead and we have many more memories to make our Christmas special again.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Johnny Louangphom
Here I will write about my life growing up! Archives
May 2017
Categories
All
|