Anonymous Story

Just when it feels like you have reached your breaking point, have been handled too harshly by the enormity of life’s complications, the universe will embrace you and show you the way. Life will present itself to be disheveled and convoluted, its fragments not always seeming to fit into place in a cohesive manner, but in spite of it all, it will be beautiful, in its entirety. Love and meaning will prevail. I know this to be true because I have had the unique opportunity to listen to some of your stories and I am so grateful to have been requested to share this one anonymously with you all.

“We moved here when I was 8 and my sibling was 14. Although not knowing a single ounce of English, I was able to adapt quite quickly. I made friends fast and learned English within a year. My siblings didn’t get so lucky. They weren’t welcomed as nicely as we would have hoped and struggled to fit in a different culture, with a different environment. Their mental health quickly receded and they were diagnosed with depression amongst other things. As a child, I couldn’t really process what was going on… how I couldn’t see my sister as often and why she was receiving extra care. As I grew up I noticed that my family was a little different than the rest of the kids. I still received a lot of love from my parents, but it was hard to understand why my sibling and I weren’t hanging around much together like we had in the past, compared to the other kids who were always with their siblings. When 7th grade rolled around, I finally had the full consciousness to truly digest the situation. It was never easy to see her sad. What made it worse is that we are polar opposite, and our personalities could never match up. But throughout these years I realized they don’t need to match up. I realized I had to be the one to make the extra effort/push when she was down. I started to listen to more of the genre that she liked. I started to watch anime. All in all to have more topics of interest and conversations. I didn’t love some of the stuff she was into, but I realized that those little efforts to connect with them through the tough times went a long way. The times where they got mad or upset, I didn’t retaliate with mean words. Instead, in silence I took the aggregation knowing that she didn’t really mean it, and that she was battling something I would never be able to understand. I’m still trying to understand and reach out more to her. Thankfully, she has been gotten better but the healing process is never linear. I think what I’ve learned is that empathy and compassion goes a long way when the people we love go through hard times. There were many times where I wanted to crumble right beside them, but I didn’t. I had to be strong in front of them to show them, clearly and tranquilly, that things would get better. And they did!! All it took was patience, hope of knowing things would get better, and love.”

Your whole life, in all of its complexity and unexpectedness, will be a series of healing. The life that is unraveling before you, however imperfect it may feel, is a miracle. We can not determine our situations, but we can dictate how we react to them. I think this story had a lot to say about the importance of relationships in life and being there for each other as support in times of struggle. It was so humbling to be able to share this personal anecdote with this person, and I hope some of you may have resonated with this story in one way or another. I would love to hear more of these incredible excerpts of your lives.

Love El and your anonymous storyteller.