My Life In The Dominican Republic

Imagine life in four walls: no dining room, no bedroom, just the kitchen and a shared room for three. To go to the bathroom or kitchen, it had to cross the courtyard. That was my house. I was born in the Dominican Republic and I lived with my grandmother and my sister who is two years older than me. That one room was where we ate, slept and lived. There was no privacy. It was really uncomfortable. When I looked to my left I saw my sister getting dressed and when I looked to my right I saw my grandmother kneeled praying. We couldn’t invite other people to the house, and if we did, we could just be in the courtyard. My grandmother's dream is to have her own house someday. She is 74 years old and I do not lose hope of fulfilling her dream.

When my parents separated, she stayed with me and gave me the love of my father and my mother. She is my mother, she is my father, she is my friend, she is everything for me. My father came to the US when I was 3 years old, and my mother traveled to Spain. Therefore they gave custody to my grandmother. My life in the Dominican Republic was not easy. I cried many times, I felt alone, because I missed my parents. Although I love my grandmother, I longed to have my parents with me, especially for my birthday, Christmas, and activities at school where every child went with his parents, except