8 years in this country! In these 8 years, life has changed a lot! And yet, it has stayed the same! I have grown a lot as a person but in my heart of hearts I have remained the same! Necessary life skills like cooking and driving has become less daunting now! I have always thought of myself as a strong, independent woman but I have become even more fiercely independent which somehow also has made me a lot more thick-skinned! With age, I have become less patient with people’s bullshit! I now care very less about people for whom I don’t matter! It has become easier to let go – let go of sadness when I miss all the festivities and gatherings back home; let go of failures – professional or personal; let go of anxieties about things I cannot change (to an extent, at least); let go of people who no longer adds to my life’s experience!
In this 8 years, I got an MS degree, worked 4 very different types of jobs, paid off my student loans, lived in 6 different cities across 5 states, worked in at least 16 different cities across 11 states and traveled to an additional 15 states, bought a car, saved enough to own a real-estate property back home, brought my parents for a USA tour and cleared my Professional Engineering Exam after brutally failing twice! That’s a handful of items to cross off from my to-do list. I am not one to pat myself on the back, but if I was, this would have been the time! 8 years ago, on this very day, I reached Buffalo with just 2 bags of personal belongings! Now I have patio furniture and about 16 cooking pans of different sizes & shapes in my kitchen! Life is CRAZY!!!!
But amidst this craziness, some things never change! First and foremost – the love of family from thousands of miles apart. Love that never fails to reach me and surround me with warmth and support! Love that only grows with time and distance! Second is the love of friends, our chosen family! From day one here, I have had incredible friends who were always there to offer me a helping hand! A Lot of them helped me get established here, some helped me get through some tough times and a special few made my life interesting! Some friendship has dissolved now but some has endured the test of time! But all of them, irrespective of the length we were actively friends, showered me with love, care and support – I have been very lucky! And I am forever grateful!
Love,
~Arrru
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