All Together

                                             

Double Life

           A Native of Beijing in New York which hit theaters in 1994 was a famous movie that described people’s real life in the United States. My father experienced various stories like the movie described. In China, some people say the U.S. is paradise, yet some people say the U.S. is hell. In the 1990s, China experienced state-owned enterprise economic reform, because China is a populous country and has a surplus of labor in most companies. The result was that a lot of workers stayed at home without salary even though their job titles were still active in the companies.  Essentially, it means they were unemployed. My father was one of them, so he started a small stationery business to support our family nest. One day, the building where my father’s stall existed caught on fire. He lost all the merchandise, and he almost lost confidence for working and living. Finally, he decided to immigrate to the United States. My father proposed to start a new life in the hopes that it would change the family’s future.

         My mother played a combined role after my father immigrated to the United States. She tried to reproduce the stationery business to make money and protect our fundamental life when I was in middle school. My mother also needed to deal with the utility bills, rent, as well as social network just as my father did before. At the meantime, my father was also experiencing an unfamiliar environment, and he could just do some hard work at Chinese companies because he didn’t speak English. Therefore, my mother had to take care of my daily life and help me with my homework. She placed all her hopes on me, but more importantly, they missed each other because of the ten-thousand-mile distance.

      In addition, due to the unusual family situation, I was supposed to study hard and share some responsibilities with my mother. If I could finish my homework by myself and do some chores, she would feel more relaxed and pay more attention to her business. Since independence is in the cards for children, I was supposed to be self-reliant sooner than later. Additionally, in my childhood, I lived with my grandmother because my mother was extremely busy. I always felt lonely like an ugly duck. When I watched TV with my grandmother at home, other classmates went on field trips with their parents. I tried my best on every subject to earn a perfect score. In addition, I always liked to decorate the home as comfortable as I could. During three years of hard work, I passed the national college entrance examination, which is known in China as changing fate’s test, and I went to university. After all her struggles, my mother felt delighted.

      Consequently, my mother and I immigrated to the U.S. to reunite with my father and began a fresh life. However, the attractive skyline did not engage us in the United States. The most important thing for us was that we lived together and did whatever we wanted. My mother eventually found a job at a supermarket as a stocker. Even though they lost their glorious jobs in China, they have adapted to the new environment to rebuild our warm family again. We chose a residence which is similar to the apartment back home. Meanwhile, I harbor a dream of being an accountant, so studying at the city college is the first step toward success. Sometimes life kisses us by pain, but we can face it with a smile.

        No one can predict the future, just like no one could have predicted that the coronavirus would spread so fast all over China. Fortunately, people can decide their own life by struggling. The choice is a double-edged sword. My mother and I experienced a hard time for eight years when we separated from my father. For example, I felt helpless when I was sick, and I was concerned about my mother when she was tired. However, I have forgotten those miserable moments because life has gotten better. Above all, I believe that the sunshine always comes after the rain.