Moving to America by Rawan

From MemoryArchive

Who: Rawan
What: My first memeory I could think of, moving to Florida to escape the Gulf War
When: 1990
Where: America

I don't remember much from the Gulf war, I was only 3 when it happened, but it played a huge role on my life. My mother still tells us stories about how we had to hide in bomb shelters as the war was happening above and how we had to live without running water or decent food for weeks. She shows us the bullet shells she collected from the front door of our house in Kuwait and tells us how hard my father has worked to make it to where he is today.

I wish I remember what we went through during the war, I would imagine I'd feel differently towards it if I did, but I was too young to remember, and maybe it's better that I don't. I do remember, however, walking into our apartment here in Florida for the first time. Our father had come to the states before us so that he could get our papers and make some money to take care of us. It was only me and my brother then, my sisters weren't born yet. We were so happy to see our father, I still remember the sparkle in his eyes when he held us for the first time in long time. My brother and I quickly ran into our room, and found a pile of toys on each of our beds, gifts our father bought for us. We haven't played with real toys in a while, so they were like treasures to us. As we were sharing our new gifts with each other, our father comes in and tells us to join him in the kitchen. We walked into the kitchen and saw a bowl filled with oranges and bananas. I will never forget how excited we were to see fruit, we haven't had fresh produce in a while due to the war.

I don't remember much of the rest of the day, but the feeling I get knowing my family has survived a war and didn't let it get in the way of success will always remind me how blessed I am.