Life Decision

Life Decision

A little incident changed two generations. During World War II, my grandfather lived in a poor Chinese family. He tried to leave from Taishan to Hong Kong in order to get a better job because he was the leader in the family. In 1941, after my grandfather was working in Hong Kong for three years, the Japanese occupied Hong Kong. This occupation affected my grandfather. He was wounded in his left leg by a bullet, and he lost his job. As a result, my grandfather had to go back to Taishan. After my father found out my grandfather was injured, my father made an important decision to go to Jiangmen to got a better job, and he met my mother there. Fortunately, because of this meeting, my family had an opportunity to immigrate the United States due to my mother’s brother, uncle Qiang. These events have had a deep influence on my family until now, and they all began with my grandfather. These life choices led to my parents meeting each other, the creation of my family, and my immigration to America.

My parents’ marriage was the first effect on my family. The first year in Jiangmen, my father worked in a small clothing factory. He tried to work harder than other workers because he wanted to earn more money to help the family. In one encounter, my mother attracted my father’s attention. He noticed my mother was a hard worker like himself. In addition, my father had many beautiful memories with my mother. They had the same work schedule, many romantic dinners, and my father tried to promise my mother that he would give her a wonderful life. Therefore, they got married quickly, and they created a small seafood company. After two years, my sister was born, and one year later I arrived. My parents began to think more about our future and made an important decision to immigrate to the United States.

The second effect was that my uncle, Qiang, gave my family a chance to immigrate to the U.S. One year after I was born, my uncle immigrated to the U.S. My uncle called my mother often, and he would explain how Chicago was beautiful and great. For this reason, my parents had started to think about immigration and discussed it with my uncle. Two years later, my uncle applied for my family to immigrate to the United States. We waited twelve years for the visa. I remember when my parents got the immigration notice; I was in last year of high school. At the time, even though I realized I had to immigrate to the United States early, I still felt sad because I knew I would miss China, and all the beautiful memories of my hometown. After I got the immigration notice, I still wanted to finish my high school, but I could not. Three months later, my family arrived in the United States.

Nevertheless, the most important effect of all these events was coming to the United States. I still remember how the sky was wonderful when I walked off the airplane. I took a deep breath, and I looked around the tarmac. I started to think that this was a great city, and that I would begin my new life here. Now, I have been here for three years. I have a nice part-time job working in a restaurant. In addition, I have the opportunity to study English in a college. My whole life has changed. Although I get sad sometimes, I would never give this up. I believe this new life is great for me.

All the thanks are for my grandfather’s decision because he made this small decision that profoundly affected two generations of my family. If my grandfather did not go back and stay in Hong Kong, my father would not go to Jiangmen and marry my mother. In addition, my sister and I would not exist in the world. However, my father came to Jiangmen by my grandfather’s decisions, and I came to the United States due to my parents’ decision. Moreover, I believe that coming to Chicago was an excellent plan, and I am full of gratitude to my grandfather for his wise decision. Those effects totally changed my family, education, life, and profited me so much. Now my unlimited future is beginning in the United States.