Reslilience

She was strong, but she had been abused, very much. My aunt had two sisters, her mother stayed at home, and her father worked a good job to support the family. My aunt was the oldest, and the outcast of her sisters.

She was always nice and did her schoolwork exceptionally, but her parents still beat her, and only her. She tried her hardest to make her parents happy, and her sister saw how hard she worked to get their love, but never got it. When she was 8 years old, her parents gave birth to her second sister, who was born paralyzed, and slightly mentally challenged. My aunt was the one who took care of her sister and did whatever she had to do for her. She was forced to have short hair like a boy.

Her parents knew she was tough, and wanted to hurt her. They said “???? ?? ??????, ??? ???? ???????? ???????, ?? ?? ?????? ????????? ?? ????.” (1) When my Aunt was 10 years old, she wanted to go out to run and play. Her parents would not let her, so she went to her room and cried thinking, How can I go play? My aunt figured out a way to go run and play. she told her parents that if she could go out and run or play for one hour a day, she would spend the rest of her time studying, and reading when she got back. They said okay, but they weren’t happy about it.

But she was. My aunt as a child was a very persistent little girl. 9 years later my Aunt’s second sister died from her illnesses. My aunt took care of her since she was born. She was always there, because their parents were not. This was tragic for her, and she saw how her parents treated them very differently.

She hated her parents! As she grew up, she always liked being around her sister, and her mom also got a job so they had more money. Their family had not changed much besides my aunt had more privileges, like cleaning the house, and making dinner for when her parents get home. When she would see her friends, they would call her baby face, because she still has baby fat on her face, she didn’t mind it too much she knew her friends were joking around with her. She also still had short hair like she had when she was a child. One day when she gets home and does her homework.

Her father looks at it, he says “?????? ??? ?? ?????!” (2) She replied no to him, because she was tired of taking orders, and he hit her so hard on the side of her head her ear drum broke. My aunt is now unable to hear from it. Through this chapter of her of her life my aunt became brave, and stood up for herself. As my aunt grew older, she was sent to the city of Los Angeles in the U.S. by her parents.

They set up an arranged marriage for her that she did not want to be in at all. After just a week of being in the marriage, she ran away and went to chicago. After she went to chicago, she lost connection with her family, and didn’t talk to them much. She also met my uncle while he was working, and have been together since that day. When my aunt met my uncle, her life changed. She was happy, she also didn’t worry about her broken family.

My aunt had freedom to do what she wanted to do. She loves the city of chicago and wouldn’t go anywhere else. “Life was great”, as she told me. After not being in contact with her mother, my aunt is happy, and has 3 kids as the years went by. My aunt was very healthy until she had a trip to the hospital.

While she was at the hospital, she was given a lot of steroid injections which ended up making her go back a year later because the steroids gave her osteoarthritis of the hip joint. (This is deterioration of the hip joint.) My aunt had to undergo a hip replacement or she would not be able to walk. My aunt was strong, and fought through it determined to walk again, but months later she had to get the other hip replaced due to the same sickness. As my aunt went through this process in her life, she never lost hope. She was determined to walk perfectly again without a cane or a walker, and do all the activities she loves to do.

Months passed and she overcame the pain. She was able to walk, like her legs were brand new; Reborn. Still to this day, she is the strongest person I know, and the most resilient too. When I think of her, I think of a boulder balancing on the end of a cliff. For me this symbolizes that she is able to balance her life no matter what she goes through even after all the pain, she will always find happiness.