Marilyn
Monroe once said, “I believe that everything happens for a reason. People
change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate
them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no
one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can
fall together.” There is a time in our lives when we think we are special; we
are the chosen ones. Like Winthrop when he believed that he was chosen by God
to lead America which, in his mind, was chosen for a great destiny. Well, I
have known that I’m special since I was 13; right after I made that wish.
As
a child I had my ups and downs; my downs were a lot. I was a weepy. And
whenever I wept I used to close my eyes and run. I believed that by closing my
eyes I could see a path to my mother who was always there for me. However, the
wall of my grandfather proved me wrong. I was running with my headlights off
before I crashed, face-first, into the wall. I broke my nose and was in coma
for around three hours. A few days later, I was helping my sister get down from
the second floor just before I fell down, back-first, onto a table. I broke my
back and slept in the hospital for 30 days. I fell in a hole. I broke my arm in
a soccer game…etc. I can go on forever describing my troubled childhood, which
I have no one to blame for but God.
See,
a child needs hope; needs a dream; in my case I needed a wish to come true. One
night I went with two of my uncles to buy some t-shirts. It was late, and for a
13 years old kid that “trip” was a milestone in my life. When we were heading
back home after shopping, I looked to the clock, “11:11” it said. I don’t know
why I did that but I wished that I could see this exact moment again. I wanted
to feel that same feeling of happiness, which was hard to get for a child like
me. After that night I tried to have this “11:11” moment again but I failed. I
reached a point where I thought that moment which I was seeking was my
salvation from my childhood. I didn’t know that life is simple. With plans,
life wouldn’t have the spontaneous taste.
I
burned myself out to get a scholarship, hoping that America was hiding these
moments. At that moment, on September 25th 2012 when I entered
America for the first time in my life, I didn’t recall my old “11:11” wish. Anyway,
I started in a humble ESL school. It took me a
month to adjust; a year to feel like it is home. I wanted to go to see the
76ers basketball game in October but I was late for registration. I waited for
the November game. $40 was the cost of the ticket. And I went to my first
basketball game. It was indescribable. I had the time of my life. I felt it
this was the moment that I was really waiting for. I knew that everything God
did to me when I was a kid had its payback GOOD time. I went home overwhelmed
with happiness. I closed my eyes and wept. I missed my family I wished that
they were here with me. I opened my red eyes; put my hand in my pocket; took
out the 76ers game’s ticket; and I saw it again “11:11” my row and seat, was
printed all over my ticket.
I’m
special. I knew that every choice I make, starting with my wish in that old car,
was leading me to this moment right now.
Abdulsalam Hdadi is a student of English as a Second Language in Philadelphia. He is originally from Saudi Arabia.
