There's a first time for everything

 Good Evening Strikers,

I'd a whirlwind of things a happen since my last blog post.

I found the courage to make new friends and come out of my shell a bit.

Celebrate a birthday, embrace the laughter, forget about tracking my meals, the diet, and simply live in the moment. It was definitely refreshing to just build on life here in Spartanburg. South Carolina and focus on adding more people into my circle. I think that since moving here, because I been so comfortable being as introverted as I naturally am, I hadn't really embraced what this place has to offer. I think that in this journey of self-love and personal growth, I've learned that meeting new people and choosing to make the best of it without the limitations of my mind is not only fun but also very rewarding. Making friends and building on relationships is empowering and makes everything feel a little more bearable and stable. 

Now on to something I've never experienced before and what really influenced today's blog. 

To be honest, I have lost loved ones in my family, a few friends that I met in college and I've mourned in my own way. However, I never had the opportunity to actually assist their funeral. Though this is a heavy subject, I took a lot of value from it. As many of you know from my last post, I'm currently a single, 26-year-old woman who is still best friends with her recent Ex and still living with him. Being a friend in general means being able to support their growth, and also be that shoulder to cry on or the pillar of support when tragedy strikes, Being in my situation and living out here and getting to know his family, and although I'm not deeply rooted into his actually pretty big family when a member is lost, it hits everyone. 

There is the cultural shock for me when it comes to things like this because well Latin culture and Asian cultures can be different when it comes to traditions, Without going too much into detail, I'd met the family member that was lost briefly before they fell ill, went to visit in the hospital, asked the wife every time I saw them how they were doing. To some degree, I felt like I knew them a little more than you know let's say a stranger walking past you on the sidewalk? Part of me wished I could speak to them more, ask them questions about their lives, and truly get to know them further. I have this thing that I always live by and its the fact that everyone you meet impacts your life in some way shape or form. I think I can learn something from everyone I encounter, their triumphs and their struggles, and so on. However, when the language barrier is an obstacle, the conversation can be difficult. 

So, here I am, meeting new family members, seeing familiar faces, consoling the immediate family as much as you can when you really have no way of taking their pain away. Showing up and simply showing my support during this hard time and watching an array of pictures of this person's life and thinking about how there is the loss of a husband, a best friend, a sibling, and a father. I live my life emotionally. I feel everything, a book I read, a picture I saw, a song I've heard or a movie I've watched, I feel. So when, the best friend stood at the front of the chapel to say his speech, his farewell to his beloved friend, I learned a lot about this person, all the questions I asked myself before when I first met this person were basically answered. What were they like? What did they overcome in their lives? What were their motivation and triumphs? 

I learned of their ambitions of fleeing their country in a time that I couldn't have imagined and failing again and again. Of finally succeeding and starting a life, falling in love, and thinking that life was only going to get better from there. Then just like that, in a tragic twist of fate, losing the love of your life and having to keep moving forward and devoting yourself to your daughters. Working long hours in a job that didn't pay you for more than a year and have to still find a way to sustain your life and those of your children in country that didn't fully accept you because you were an immigrant. Finding the second love of your life and starting a business, living out your lives into old age, and finally falling ill. All of that and still being known for being humble, loving, selfless and for never complaining.

It reminded me a lot of my parents and their journey here. Though I didn't get to know him as deeply as the rest of his family and friends. I'm humbled to have been asked to come in honor of his memory, to hear his story and take with me the lessons I've learned from his perserverance and journey. Like I mentioned, there is a first time for everything and I'm glad I was there. It has definitely put a lot into perspective and influenced my mind in ways I think I ignored before.