Leaving Home by Pramila Katwal
When I had my child , Bright Katwal , I started thinking about his future . I wanted to have a better education for him . That made me think about coming to America applied for a diversity visa and I won the visa for my family , so I was going to leave home .
I left my home on October 10 , 2012 . Now I had to face the decision I made to come to America and leave my parents , siblings , and friends behind . It was very sad and very hard to say goodbye to my parents , grandparents , brothers , sisters , friends , and even those hills , and mountains . I grew up in Nepal where there are mountains and hills . When people go somewhere , the family can see until the person disappears over the hill . I knew my grandparents and my parents were watching me until I passed the hills , but I did not turn around to wave goodbye again because it was just hard .
I started to have difficulty at the airport . I remember coming from Nepal to Dubai and Dubai to the United States I was just naïve . I was even too shy to order food in the plane . Then I arrived here and everything was new . When I went out of the house , I was very lonely . I could see many people around me , but I could not trust any of them . Night was even harder to go through . It was winter so it started to get dark early in the day . I had to go through the long night and my family ’ s voices came in to my mind , surrounding me . I was in my bed lying down , but I felt I was walking at the Jwala Mai temple with my siblings and friends . It was just hard not being there . Even today can see the picture of my home in my head , and I ’ m still missing my family . Especially , my grandparents because I may never see them again . However , I am very happy to be raising my son in America .
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