It’s 7am, who in the world would be banging on my door? I woke up to loud noise coming from my family’s front door to see a group of people dressed in uniform. Confused and scared, I opened up the door and immediately I was yanked out into the cold to watch the group of men and women invade my home. They brought my mother, father, and older brother outside of the house to pat us down before bringing us back into our home and sitting us down to explain to us what was going on. My parents were going to jail.
At the age of 13, I could not comprehend why my parents were being sent to jail. I still to this day do not completely understand why my parents were placed in jail while murderers and rapists out on the loose. I never really wanted to ask my parents why they were incarcerated because I did not want to bring up such a sensitive topic. From what I can remember, my parents were placed under arrest for fraud. They believed that my parents were taking advantage of the government by taking money through programs such as welfare all while owning cars and taking trips out of the country to Asia.
This was the hardest situation I have ever been placed. At that moment in time, my eldest brother was a freshman in college, my second oldest brother was a sophomore in high school, and I was in the 8th grade. The big question was where do we go from there? Fortunately we had relatives close by to take my second oldest brother and me into their homes to watch over. The next few months consisted of visiting my mother every other weekend since my second oldest brother and I alternated. Visitations never felt humane. Humans are meant to be able to touch and embrace. The transparent wall that separated my mother and me was my worst enemy. We would hold our hands up to the glass as if we were holding each other’s hands. This was not the way people are supposed to meet up with one another. Fortunately my parents only stayed in prison for about 3 months and although my parents were finally home, it never came to an end. We have to live with this forever and somehow find a way to move on.
Life was rough for my parents back in Asia and it still is rough for them here. They thought they could escape all the hardships they faced back in Asia, but that is definitely not the case today. Even though this was such a tragedy, this has brought my family closer and has made each and every one of us realize how important family is. Throughout the entire ordeal, my parents always told me to try my best and learn from their mistakes. They never want me to experience what they experienced in prison. Of course there are some things my parents regret doing in life that led them to being incarcerated, but there are plenty of things they would never take back. They believed that they were doing what was best for my brothers and me. They did things that they were not supposed to like the family to Asia to visit their homeland, but to them it was all worth it because they felt like everything came full circle when they were able to bring their children back home.
So why do I do what I do? Because no matter what I do, whether it would be something I am proud of or something I would regret, I need to live my life and take my mistakes as they come at me so I can learn from them and move on even though I have to carry it with me forever. I need to be able to make my experiences and make my own mistakes to grow up.
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