Today after church service I had an epiphany. It has been about 4 weeks in my new home of Raleigh, North Carolina and I can honestly say it has been quite an experience…I am making friends, settling in, and getting “use” to working. While this is all great nothing is like being home or in the company of those who have known you all your life aka your family and I can honestly say I have shed a tear here and there as I have suffered from a terrible case of “home sickness” – and I learned something that I don’t think I could have been understood or fully grasped at any other point in my life previous to now with the aid of living 3 hours away from home.

My parents have been outside of their country for 21 years and I have only been away for 4 weeks and at some points here in Raleigh I found myself wanting to run home – dropping everything here and running home. You may be lost right now but trust me as I further explain where I am coming from you too may have epiphany about your parents or others. My parents came to America with only each other and me in the comfort of my mothers belly since she was around 7/8 months – no one else essentially, and my father jokes with only a dollar in his pocket even thought it is no joke but reality and they were expected to settle down and prosper – after all that is the American dream right?

Now my family consists of 4 brothers, me, a house in Va, some cars, and no one else to call “family” except the occasional close friends my parents have made in their “spare” (spare time which barely exists so that gives you and idea of the amount of friends) amount of time in America. I use to try to understand why my parents were the way they were but today in church I understood being away from your roots can take a toll on you and changes you – today one week after my 21st I came to FULLY understand the strength of my parents. I am not here to argue that my parents may be better than yours I am here to firmly state that my parents ARE better than yours – they have been through things that are so unique and life changing that I can truly say I am the way I am not only because of God’s creation but because of my parents.

Not sure that I got what I wanted off my chest in a way that can be I translated to you the reader appropriately/effectively but I am enlightened and my eyes are open and I hope that one day you can examine epiphanies in your life.

Astu Mengesha – stay down blaze up.