My Home Essay Example
It was June; the summer of 2019. It was a short flight from San Marcos, California to Houston, Texas, but in my mind, it felt like years of anxiously waiting for my new life to begin. When I exited the airport, I was hit in the face with a dry gust of air. It was revolting leaving me feeling groggy and restless. My sister, grandpa, and I loaded up the bags in my dad’s car and headed towards the new apartment. The first thing my dad said was, “ Welcome home!” excitedly. That’s when it really hit me. “This is my new home…” I said I was feeling uneasy. I shifted in my seat and stared out the window the whole way there.
When we arrived at the apartment, I was welcomed by my mom, brother, uncle, aunt, and my baby cousins. My one-year-old cousin, Aliyah, jumped in my arms and hugged me with a big smile on her face. My brother, Yusuf, jumped towards me at the door and excitedly announced, “ I will give you guys a tour!” Seeing my family there and hanging out with them made the nerves slowly slip away. I could feel them slip through my stomach and out with a deep breath. That first night was the easiest; not knowing what’s coming ahead.
It was summer, so I was looking forward to going to the pool and exploring this foreign land. My dad was willing to take us wherever we wanted to feel more comfortable here.“ Can we go to the pool,” I asked eagerly? “ Yeah, go get ready,” my dad replied. A couple minutes later, we grabbed all of our pool toys and jumped in the pool. The water felt so good on my skin and it was the perfect temperature. My mom made us our favorite foods when we got back and let us get whatever snacks or foods we wanted from the store. It was still difficult to adjust to everything being different; however, I kept my feelings inside to save my parents from having to deal with me complaining. “ So how is it here? How do you like it?” my parents asked enthusiastically in the car. “ It’s good. I like it here. I hate the bugs though” I responded with repugnance.
A couple of days later, I had a dream of having to go through the last day of 8th grade, leaving everyone I knew and I woke up restless and homesick. I woke up sweating and in tears. This moment was when I realized how much this move impacted me and how alone I felt. This dream lasted for a couple of weeks, but I distracted myself during the day by going to the pool, doing art, watching Netflix, or playing volleyball with my dad. My only real entertainment was long nights and deep conversations with my sister Maryam. “I hate it here. I want to go back home!” Maryam complained. “ Yeah me too. It’s so weird not seeing the Sprinter train going around town,” I said laughing. “ I feel so uncomfortable and I miss my friends and family,” I added.
California in Thoughts
One thing I really missed in California was the weather. “ It’s too hot,” I grumbled. I walked outside and the humidity and strong sun made it feel like a sauna. I longed for that California breeze. It was refreshing. Energizing. Comforting. Clean.
The next morning, I FaceTimed with my cousin, Ayesha, back in California. “ I miss you so much. I can’t wait to move in July!” Ayesha squealed. “ I know! It’s so boring here without you guys,” I acknowledged. A pit in my stomach formed when I thought of how long that would be. After long weeks of restless nights and vivid dreams, I finally became acquainted with living here. I viewed everything with a fresh new pair of eyes and a new attitude. This change of mind made things so much better for me. “ I’m so excited to move into the house! This was all worth it in the end,” I proclaimed. “See! I told you so, only a couple more months until we move and we won’t be cramped in this tiny apartment,” my mom pointed out excitedly. My mom was already familiar with moving, so this didn’t bother her much. After waiting patiently for another month, the rest of my immediate family moved to Texas and that made living here a lot better. “Welcome home you guys” I exclaimed with an enormous smile on my face.
I was taught one very valuable lesson from this whole event. Life changes and it’s not always how you want it to be. My mom sat down with us that evening and asked us again how we feel about living here. I smiled propitiously and my mom knew exactly what I was thinking. It’s like she read my mind. Even though this was really hard to go through, I appreciated my family's support and how our best interest was always in my mom’s mind. Hearing her say, “ Thank you for the support. You don’t know how much it means to me how supportive and positive you were through this whole thing. I love you,” made it all worth it. Most of the obstacles going forward, I know I will get through it with a positive attitude like I just did. Texas is my home, but my heart will always be in California.
