Reflection On My Last Meeting With My Father

A lesson learned on my last meeting with my father.
July 27th, 1999 was the last meeting with my father. My father left for heavenly abode on April 22nd, 2001. My husband, infant daughter, and I were coming to the U.S with infinites dreams, desires, excitements, hopes, and unknowns. We were departing for the PROMISE LAND… During the final good byes that very last day, my father gave his final blessings and said, “Beta, Kashti dubo ke jaana.” “Burn your ships.” We left for the promise land on August 3rd,1999. My father’s lesson helped comprehend the metaphorical message cognitively, but after 19 years of the experiential journey in the promise land led to switch all the light bulbs on. My father’s lesson came alive after 19 years of reflection
The journey was long, with a lot of struggles, excitements, accomplishments, and more… We wanted to do everything legally and ethically. I enrolled as an international student for five years and my husband worked odd jobs tirelessly for 16-18 hours a day, 365 days a year for a long time. Despite hard work and struggles, we did not deter from the goals we had set up for us, to make our dream come true by becoming the citizens of this great country. Besides financial constraints, missed on social network or support system, however, the faith, the courage, and the commitment kept us going. There was struggle with my infant daughter’s babysitting due to financial constraints and emotional toll of leaving her with unknown people. Of all the struggles, this was the most difficult of moment of my life. I learned that sometimes we must make hard choices when we set our priorities and it requires a great deal of focus and determination. This came alive with a lesson that I learned from my father’s story. I was always inspired by my father’s stories he often told us repeatedly and
Today, my daughter who was an infant in 1999, is a college sophomore and is doing well. After, completing master’s degree I was hired in a nonprofit organization on a work visa. I applied for immigrant visa status that took another five years to become a permanent residence. To become a citizen, I had to complete another 5 years. In the meantime, I started adding value to myself by in a doctoral program that I finished in May 2017. Currently, I am a JMT member adding value to myself to add value to others. With God’s grace, my husband owns a small business and continues to work with full dedication. With strong faith, values, focus, dedication, commitment, and support led us to this wonderful journey of content, fulfillment, growth, and service. The journey doesn’t stop here; it will continue to reach my potential and continue adding value to