When I was a kid, I wondered a lot about why a family member would have to go study or work abroad. Why would they choose to leave home, and why would they choose to leave a life away from their family?
But as I grew older, I realized that life is hard, especially when you are not born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You work your way from the very bottom to the very top. You have to leave things behind so they won't be too heavy for you upon climbing up to reach the top. I've realized that to achieve our goals, we must make many sacrifices and that you cannot simply stay where you find comfort, you must step outside of your comfort zone and take risks.
In today's blog, I am going to share with you my brother's departure here to the Philippines to continue studying in Canada.
Our aunt decided to fund my brother's studies there. He grabbed the opportunity knowing he'd be leaving us here. He'd be leaving the life he had here for his future. I felt proud as we got the news that he had been accepted into the school and that his student visa was approved.
He is going to travel alone for the first time, and he is not taking a direct flight, so he will go from Cebu to Manila, Manila to Vancouver, Vancouver to Toronto, and Toronto to Sudbury all alone. He had never been this far from us, so it was kind of worrying. I mean, he is not only going to be away from us for days or months but like years. Ever since we were kids, I have been the only one who could travel far without mom and dad's company. My brother is always with my mom. My aunts and uncles are concerned that he will be able to travel alone and bear being away from mom, as we all know how he is always clinging to mom, but I know he can do it, it's just that I am concerned.
As we were still in the car, he kept looking at each of us to see if someone was emotional or not, and he acted like nothing, but I could sense that he was nervous and worried too. Looking at him and his luggage, my throat starts to hurt as I stop myself from crying. We are not the type of siblings who are clingy to each other but we're close. People might not see us talking but we understand each other even if we fight a lot.
I tried so hard not to cry. Every time I look at mom and dad's eyes, they are also trying not to get too emotional, so my brother won't cry because we know he just won't say it, but he's trying not to cry too. He's nervous and he's scared, but he's also excited about his first trip
I prayed so hard that he wouldn't look back when he was inside, as I might start crying. While he was going to the desk, I said, "There goes my little brother all grown up." Then he looked at me. I suddenly felt my throat hurting, my muscles tensing up, my vision getting blurry, and my face started heating up. Then a tear fell from my eyes.
I know he just won't tell, but he's scared of riding the plane alone, with so many restrictions, with plenty of stopovers, traveling to a faraway country, to a place he's never been to. He's scared of being away from mom and dad, where he's always stayed for 20 years. He has always been in his comfort zone, but I am a proud sister because he is so brave to choose to come out and explore the world on his own without us, to try new things. Well, he will be staying with my aunt, but still, it's different when you are with mom and dad, where you can comfortably say you are tired from school and wanted to have some good rest first before doing some chores. When you get home, you have a mom who'll cook for you, but now he's going to do the cooking and the cleaning for himself.
My brother sent this to me, telling me that he was already seated and even teased me that he got the window seat, which I have been wanting to experience soon.
I texted him a photo of myself, assuring him that we were fine and that we didn't cry, and I told him we'd wait until the plane took off. He even joked around how he was interviewed for having good looks. Haha. The confidence of this kid is unreachable.
The back of two worried parents waiting for the plane to take off, each saying "amping kanunay" (take care always) as they looked at the sky, hoping it will reach my brother. Even their backs can tell how worried they are that their only son is going to be away from them after 20 years of sticking around.
From time to time, I'd talk to him so he wouldn't get bored while waiting for his next flight. I know he was very tired because he couldn't sleep and hadn't laid down for a day. Then my aunt sent this to us, telling us he had safely arrived there. He was welcomed by his aunt and Tito with cardboard. They wanted to hug him because they were so proud of him that he made it, but they still needed to get him another swab test for safety. Thankfully, it was negative, and when they reached home, they had a cake ready for him
After resting for a while, they went out to buy some clothes and other necessities. After a long, long day, he finally could sleep, and our aunt sent us a photo of him sleeping with open arms, looking so tired.
The day after he arrived, they went out to take him to his college, where he will be starting his classes tomorrow. We have been talking almost every day, and I am still adjusting to the time when we can talk. It's 11 in the evening here and 11 in the morning there. During his break time, he would tour us around his school on a video call, and I can see that he has already made many friends.
Two months had already passed and he was adjusting so well, thanks to Tito and our aunt for helping him. Nowadays, after his classes, Tito teaches him how to drive, and he just passed his written driver's test. We are more than proud of his achievements.
He'd been looking for a part-time job for a while, and luckily, he was accepted to a warehouse and told he'd be assigned to the stockroom for the last two weeks. He was given 20 hours per week as that is the maximum for students. This is him trying on his big uniform with a big smile on his face as he had just received his first paycheck. He is loving his life there and we are just happy for him.
We all get separated from our families eventually as we get older and reach our dreams. But our family will always support us no matter what. They will always be there for you when you are tired and down. It may not be face-to-face, but they will always be there for us. Looking at his photos now, all I can say to him is "amping kanunay diha" (always take care there).
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Melria is a book lover and a story teller. She loves to explore various things beyond her limits. If you like her content you may drop a comment, upvote and reblog her post.
