Monday

What My Parents Have Done For Me

Hello everyone! Today I was on the bus ride home, watching some Buzzfeed videos and I came across this one:


This video shows children of Asian immigrant parents explain what sacrifices their parents have made for them. 

It really hit home, close to the heart and I cried like a baby on the bus. Of course, I ran off the bus when my stop came and hugged my parents. 

But it really got me thinking what my parents have done for me, what sacrifices they've made for me, and what things I've done that make me ashamed. 

~

My mother and father are both first generation immigrants, my dad coming from Bangladesh and my mom coming from Pakistan. They came here for an education, where they met in Hawaii. 

They did come for an education, not for me as I was born here, but the thing is, they stayed here for me. We live in a small town, nothing really big. But they stayed in this small town for me to receive my education. They could have easily left, but they didn't. 

I think about all my parents could have accomplished if I wasn't born, and it honestly makes me depressed. I think of all the thousands of dollars that they spent on me to give me the best life that I could have. My dad gave up his millionaire status when I was 2-3 to pay for my ear surgery. My dad wanted to move to LA and become a film director, my mom wanted to take up full time research in Pakistan. But they didn't move, because of me. 

Naturally, I wish that I hadn't been born to give my parents all the opportunities that they wanted. Why did they do this for me? What's so special about me? But they love me. I'm their child, their everything and they'd give up anything for me. Everyone's parents would. 

The fact that I know my parents would sacrifice everything for me is insane. The thought that they would die to save me if they had to is insane. I don't think about this enough often. And everyone should think about this at least once before you say how much you hate your parents for taking away your phone for 2 days. 

When I was a little bit younger, possibly 8-10, I used to hate my religion. I couldn't do things other kids did, and I couldn't do certain things when I grew up, like drink alcohol. I used to be ashamed when I would reveal that I was Muslim. Now, I'm ashamed to even remember that I used to think that way, about my faith, just because some people thought it wasn't a good religion. 

I think about how ungrateful I can be sometimes. The fact that I have all this faith surrounding me but I was ashamed of it. The fact that I don't appreciate that my parents came to a foreign land and stayed here for me enough. The fact that I don't appreciate my parents enough period. 


Go hug your mom. Your dad. The person who takes care of you. Remember all they have done for you. Even if they're not immigrant parents, they've made so many sacrifices for you. Just always remember that. 


What's the biggest sacrifice your parents have made for you? Did you just go and hug your caretaker? If not, do that right now.  


Thanks for reading,
Noor

7 comments:

  1. My parents have made the same sacrifices. The origin story is slightly different-- my parents are both from the Philippines, and back about the late 90s, my dad was staying in the state where we currently resided in and was working as a nurse. After my dad married my mother (who was in the Philippines), we moved here when I was three. I do love my parents, and I do understand the things that they're trying to do. Living in the US is much better than how the things are in the Philippines, because here, we can have an educations, and there are just so many more opportunities.

    One of the hardest things for my brother and I was the fusion between cultures, and over time, we became more respectful about the Filipino culture our parents were trying to instill in us and visa versa with our parents. For instance, the two of us wondered why we always had to bring rice and "adobo" (it's like this meat thing) in the first grade and preschool until finally, our parents started paying for "hot lunch," aka the school lunch. Another huge problem was our parents had a phobia of my brother and I play outside. The older that we became, the more our parents became less like the Asian stereotypes that tend to be displayed. On our parents side, they have actually brought us traveling throughout many of the states (I'm heading down to visit the Southern states over the summer and I'm super excited) as well as Canada, which, if we were in the Philippines, would be much harder for us to do.

    I agree with your overall message-- we should totally respect what they do for us more than we have been doing.

    xoxo Morning

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  2. This was really sweet! Thanks for touching post :)

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  3. My parents have made a billion sacrifices for me and my sisters. This is such a thoughtful and good post! And ya I just hugged both of my parents.

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  4. As a child of Asian Immigrant parents myself, this video really made me relize how lucky I am to be where I am today. I can say that my parents have given me oppritunities that others cannot have.
    My parents had all of their family in the Philippines, but left and got a job in America just for their family. I have watched that BuzzFeed video so many times and have reflected on what sacrifices my family has made. Now, I just want to make them proud.
    Thank you for this wonderful post!

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  5. This is such a nice post Noor! I'm sort of a first generation immigrant as well- my dad moved to the US for his specialization in Internal Medicine, then he came back to Pakistan to marry my mother and then they both lived in New York. All four of us were born in the States.
    You know what my parents sacrificed though? They sacrificed the comforting life in the States and the well paying job to move back to Pakistan so we could live in an appropriate environment, get to know our culture and religion properly. The first year we spent in Pakistan, we were so ungrateful, I can't even tell you. It was a really difficult experience for my whole family, but we kind of made it worse by constantly complaining and saying we wanted to go back xD
    But now, several years later, we've realized that my parents made such a great choice to take us out of there and put us here in Pakistan. So it's kind of the same concept that you've talked about, but in a different context :)

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  6. I love buzzfeed videos! I love my parents they do so much for me even though they don't really have to now I'm older.

    Meme xx

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  7. Noor, what an amazing post. It's so so so important to realise this. I don't have immigrant parents so I can only imagine what yours must have gone through. This post was inspiring.

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