Chapter 11

• My shift had just ended, so I was leaving for home. I remember when I started my new internship; my home was in a place I didn’t like to go back to. The reason for this was my parents. Generally, people have dreams for their children’s bright futures and work hard for their better lives. However, in my family, my brother and I were merely seen as tools to fulfill our parents' dreams. This was primarily so that we could earn money and provide them with a comfortable life, allowing them to live in ease and luxury.
• They didn’t care about what my brother and I wanted. Our desires and aspirations seemed irrelevant to them. It felt like we were living our lives not for ourselves but for our parents’ expectations and ambitions. They imposed their dreams on us without considering our own wishes or the paths we wanted to take. This created a sense of frustration and helplessness, as we were constantly reminded that our worth was tied to our ability to provide for them, rather than pursuing our own goals and happiness.
• I remember that this was the time when my brother got involved with the wrong people and fell into the trap of drugs. He ended up spending six months in jail, and after that, his life changed dramatically. He was no longer the same person, and neither was his life. My parents didn’t seem to care about what he was doing with his life. By that time, I had already married Howard, who had taken care of all our loans and even offered my brother a job.