The divorce of my parents on my fourteenth
birthday... The death of my grandmother, my closest
relative... When these tragedies occurred, I acted as
though nothing was wrong, like that was how it was
supposed to be. During our countries "Gilded Age", the
immigrants who came from all across the seas, thought
the United States was perfect. As we and many others
have learned, the proverb, "All that glitters is not gold"
It was my fourteenth birthday; my dad had just come
home from being in Kansas. For my birthday he bought
me a fourteen-carat gold necklace and a T-shirt with a
dog on it. After my family ate dinner and dessert, my
mom and dad despersed to their bedroom. The house was
silent. I went into their bedroom to see what they were
doing. I always did. I asked what was up and my dad
with tears in his eyes told me my mother wanted a divorce
from him. My heart shattered. I said "Oh," and
disappeared into m bedoom. In the dark abyss of
loneliness, I cried. The next day and all through their
divorce my parents would ask how I felt. All I would say
was, "Fine," and walk away. I was far from being fine.
"I can not wait until we get there," an Irish woman
once said to her husband on their way to America. A few
months later the woman states that she wishes she could
go back to "the old country." The woman thought they
would come into instant wealth and live in a glorious
country. Alas, it was not to happen. America was going
through some tough times. There were not enough jobs to
supply for all the incoming immigrants. There was not
enough wealth circulating for the amount of people in the
United States. America was glorified, but on the inside it
was as bad off as some of the overseas countries.
My closest relative; my confidant; my grandmother
...