Always in Your Heart ♥ asked:
When life gives you lemons… make lemonade. That’s what my dad always tells me when I’m stuck in a crappy situation. But to be honest, I don’t think that advice will work this one out. It feels as if I’ve been given rotten lemons, with no juice left in them, and there is just no point in making lemonade anymore.
Only hours ago, I was packing for my summer vacation to France. Yes, France! You know, that country in Europe with the fashion capital of the world, and some of the most beautiful architecture ever created? Well anyways, I was happily packing away, minding my own business, when my dad knocks on my door. I was surprised by this because, to be honest, my dad and I never talk. He’s always busy on his laptop in his office, or he’s at work. It’s always one or the other.
“Come in.” I said, wondering what in the world was it that he wanted to tell me.
As soon as I saw the expression on his face, I knew it couldn’t be good. My dad always has one look on his face – plain, and bored. But at that moment, it was devastated. I wondered what on earth could have happened for my father to have been so sad. Millions of thoughts ran through my mind as I thought of all the possibilities. Did the fancy hotel that we were staying at in Paris burn down? Did our flight get cancelled? Turns out it was neither of those. It was much, much worse.
“We’re not going to France, Anna.” he said with the most stern look I had ever seen.
“What? W-w-why?” I asked, sadness sweeping over me.
“I got a call from my brother last night. He asked us to visit our homeland for the summer because my grandmother is very ill, this might be our last chance to see her. We‘re going to Ukraine tomorrow.”
My grandmother? Our homeland? Ukraine? I could not believe it. Moments ago, I was happily packing for France, and now I’ll be sadly packing for Ukraine? I know that I should have felt some sort of remorse for my great grandmother, maybe some guilt for not wanting to visit her, but I just couldn’t help but think how my birthday present which I had been planning for for months was ruined. This was not right. This was not what was supposed to happen. This was not the way my summer was going to turn out. No way, no how.
“But dad! You promised we’d go to France. We’ve been planning to go for months now, and it is a birthday present after all. Ukraine isn’t even my homeland. I know nothing about the place, or the people! We can’t go for the entire summer, we just can’t.” I said stubbornly, trying to fight back.
“Well then you can learn about the place and the people this summer. The decision is final, Anna. We’re going.”
And with those words, my summer flipped around faster than you could say “France no more!”.
The airport was crowded when we got there. People were whizzing by carrying huge amounts of luggage and suitcases. I wondered where they were all going to spend their summer vacation. Definitely not Ukraine. Some people wore sunhats and flip flops, as if they were ready to jump on to the beach in some tropic place like Hawaii at the very second. I’ll admit, I was jealous of them. My plain capris and t-shirt definitely did not show any excitement towards where I’m going. My dad is holding a book straight up to his face, as if avoiding eye contact with me. His bony face looks tense and distraught. His short chestnut hair stands up straight and I know that if it grew out a little bit more it will be just as wavy as mine. To be honest, I love my hair. It’s very long and wavy with a golden tint in it from my mom.
Another good thing about it is that it covers my chubby cheeks. I was “gifted” as my dad would say with permanent baby fat, just like my mom. My whole life everyone made fun of me because of it, but my dad says that they suit me. What a lie. I think that he said that because they remind him of my mom. She was a beautiful woman, and I will admit that chubby cheeks did suit her. The thing is, she died when I was only a few months old. It was in a car accident back in Ukraine. I think that’s why my dad decided to move to Canada in the first place – to forget the nightmare he lived through of my mom being gone. That’s also probably why we’ve never visited relatives back in our homeland. To be honest, my dad tries avoiding the country every chance he gets. But I guess this was just too much for him.
