I was a little girl in a small village. I left my village and moved to the city for high school. I was accepted into a famous school in the city after I had passed the exam with good results. The first year, I studied in the afternoon. I was seated at the first row of tables to see everything better because I was small and nearsighted. I liked this seat.
Tag: New York Public Library
Unlucky Day or Common Day?
I have to leave my home at 7 a.m.
I have a meeting with my boss at 8 a.m.
I can’t arrive late. It’s very important: It smells like a promotion.
Remember
* remember that it will always be worthwhile to keep walking remember that sometimes giving it all will be worth it but always remember not to climb by trampling others remember you are great when you help always remember that you are much stronger than you think remember that despite everything, you are still standing …
Joy
* I am almost 50 years old, but I still feel like a little girl inside. My husband and I have been in love for 20 years now. I know it’s not a very popular choice, but we have decided to walk the path of our lives alone, without children. Probably some circumstances have influenced …
The Yellow Bucket
* I think I have lost a lot of objects in my life. A scarf, a necklace, an earring . . . I accidentally dropped them somewhere and never found them again. Every time I lose something it simply hurts at first, but later, an odd image comes to my mind: an octopus nestling in a yellow bucket …
Where I Am From: Bosnia and Herzegovina
On my immigration journey, the most common question people ask me out of curiosity is: “Where are you from?” Such a long name for such a small country, I say to myself every time someone asks me that question. I was raised in one part of the geographical location of the former Yugoslavia that some people named Bosnia and Herzegovina, or BiH. A long name, indeed, for a country with a population of less than half of New York City’s.
Reflections on 2020: Our Six-Word Memoirs
Six feet apart from my shoes.
—Ashly Cabral Arno
Eating to live; oops, the opposite!
—Vanina Bousquet
A bad time for lipstick lovers.
—Francis Almonte
Lady Liberty’s Delusion
I am American,
Yet I was born and raised in France.
I came from overseas.
I traveled back and forth many times
Until I was complete.
A long journey.
I Was a Dog Lover and I Didn’t Know It
Yes, I’m a dog lover, and I didn’t know it. I had to fly 5,295 miles (8,521 kilometers) to find it out.
I have a small Havanese, and he probably processes English better than me, at least in a more natural way. He was born here, his previous family welcomed him in English, and for his first months of life, he heard English.
Sincerely, from the Future
Dear Past Self,
Let me tell you about the excitement I felt when I looked down at the extravagant city lights from an airplane window on the day I arrived in New York. I was all by myself and felt relieved after the nerve-racking immigration inspection in Minneapolis and catching my connecting flight to LaGuardia. I broke into a smile once I saw that my husband had come to pick me up. I could hardly speak English at that time, so I have no idea how I got through everything.
My Uncle’s Story
Have you heard the word “kamikaze”? In Japanese, this word means “the wind of god.” In older times, Japanese people believed that the wind of god would suddenly blow in and help us when we needed it. But kamikaze is more well-known as the name of a Japanese special-attack unit in the closing stages of World War II. The kamikaze pilots flew suicide attacks against the enemy’s naval vessels. My uncle, Misao, volunteered for this unit when he was just 16 years old.
A Precious Gift
I was born in Sogamoso, nicknamed “City of the Sun,” based on the Colombian indigenous Muisca people’s tradition of adoring their sun god, Sué.
“Toi et Moi” with Love and Hope
It was on a radiant afternoon in the summer of 2003 that my grandmother offered me her engagement ring because she knew I was getting married. We were sitting together on the terrace of our family’s house, perched in the Corsican mountains, silently admiring the view of our valley. Some rare clouds were casting moving shadows over the forest, while in the distance, the Mediterranean Sea was glittering in the sun.
One House, Many Tenants
In that house, that big house of yellow sandstone with iron balconies on that crooked and black-lava road, the road that seemed to walk on the slopes of the volcano and on which every door looked like a crater, my grandparents lived. My great-grandparents had lived there, their parents had lived there, and so on, out of the time of this story.
No One Like You
One of my favorite songs is “No One Like You” by the famous Nigerian boy band P-Square. This song was a hit in my country, Ivory Coast, in 2007 and 2008. Listening to it now transports me right back to my teenage years. It transports me back to my fears and my hopes: finding the perfect love, finding my way, being successful, and making my family proud of me.