Step by step, she took, to achieve her own dreams, of setting up a home for herself, and her families, it didn’t come easy, she had to work, every step of the way, and now, she’d, achieved her own dreams, and can, breathe, more easily, translated…
Finally, the long awaited, long holiday weekend, I’d, gotten up early, rushed to the new cabin I bought in the mountains, just wanted to, take a long rest. But, as I’d, opened up the gates, the thick moss, the mud covered up the stones of the path leading up to the property, the vines extended to few meters out of the fences, the weeds are, to my waist, how do I manage all of this? Then, I’d recalled, the huge sum of home loan I took out on this place, when will I finally, pay all of it up, I’m normally, a mother of three, a tough school teacher ordinarily, but now, I’m, an ordinary person, on the verge of, having, a total, meltdown, and I’d, sat myself down on the ground, and started, crying.
I just turned forty then, with worries of more than just my mortgage to pay up, compounded with the pressures from my work as a school instructor. To fit the requirements of the nine-years’ of mandatory education, the school’s data became, digitized, and, everything’s turning, digital, there’s no prioritizing, everything happened, all at once, and, what followed, was the meshing of the school and the communities’ unique traits……………all of these, are my, responsibilities to take care of. I’d worked on during the daytime, became a superman teacher who can only say “Yes”, at night, in class, my mind was, boggled on the weeds, taking over my yard, and many other matters I needed to take care of.
illustration from UDN.com
I’d fallen, and cried, enough, it’s all out, wiped up my tears, start solving the problems now! The family of five of us, in our pants, with the sleeves, the gloves on, squatted by the gates for hours. My husband dug up the mosses that are, taking over the steps, by the ditches, then, turned to the hoe, and, rooted up the weeds taking over the alleyways; my two daughters who are in high school, along with my elementary age son, used their ten fingers, pulled off the weeds that are taking their spots in our yard, by the corner of the walls.
My son became intrigued with the needles of the weeds stuck on him, “look, it’s the beggar ticks, they’re so magical!” his childish words, filled with, magic, it’d, brought tears to my eyes, I’d, secretly, wiped my tears away, and, got the mud all over my face.
My three kids not only helped sorting through the yard, they’d also, worked together with us, to lessen the burdens of our mortgage, my youngest daughter on the winter breaks of her freshman year announced to us, “I will no longer need an allowance from you, mom and dad from here on out, I’ll part-time in the bakeries, to help us pay up the mortgages sooner!”, her younger brother who’s ten years junior barked out, and, immediately, offered up the $500N.T. in scholarship prize money he’d earned, stated, “mom, you can give me a hundred dollars for New Year’s this year”.
And, the burdens of our mortgages lessened by the day, the work at school, I’d, slowly, adapted myself to, I’d, conquered my fear of using computers, and, gotten immersed in the technology seminars, and I’d, signed up for the graduate programs too, my coworkers and I offered one another encouragements, and we’d, successfully, transitioned the school into the curriculum systems mandated by the government.
And, in a blink of an eye, it’d been, twenty years since we bought our home, we’d, weathered through the stages of hardships with the weeds taken over, the heavy mortgage, the stresses from work, pounding us down, but thankfully my families, my coworkers, and my friends worked together with me, and, we’d, finally, seen the light at the end of this, dark tunnel we got trapped by, and now, we’re, welcoming in, the surprises of our, easier life.
And so, this is all, a process, of going through the trails, of not having enough money, of worrying, but, you’d worked hard through it all, alongside your families, with their supports, and the emotional supports of your coworkers, your friends, and your loved ones, you can finally, see that light, and start, to live on, a bit, easier from before, because you’d, earned it, having worked too hard before.