How My Sister’s Life Used To Be
May 4, 2017
She left her family because she had no choice. Left her life behind and everything she had.
Her mom wanted a better future for her and they had to move away.
Freshman Karelis Perez was in fifth grade and was only 10 years old when she had to leave everything she loved. It has been four years since the last time she had to leave Puerto Rico. She has been wishing to hug her dad and her grandma again and never let them go.
She made new friends in her new school but she doesn’t feel at home. The only time when she can see her family again is during her school vacations but she cannot stay for long.
“I have everything and I can’t complain, but money and material doesn’t fill the hole I have in my heart where my family rests,” she says.
She misses the warm hugs of her beloved ones, the advice they used to give her and her grandma’s food. Every time she goes to visit her family she never wants to come back, but she knows she has to. Her life hasn’t been the same. She would never get used to living in America.
“Sometimes I wish I can touch them, but I can only see them through the screen,” she says.
It is hard to talk to my family, she says. She doesn’t talk to her family often.
“The couple of times I can see them through video chat I feel them close, but at the same time far,” she says.
Her mom says how sad Karelis gets sometimes and there is no way to make her feel better.
“Everything I did, was thinking in the best for her,” her mom said.
Perez wishes she could bring her family with her but that is their home too. Her heart feels empty. There is a space that only her family will ever fit in. She says she is never going to find the love of a man better than the love of a father.
