Life was running almost without feeling it, I was already 24 years old and
the only one girl friend I had had left
me when I told her that I wanted to be a teacher. I guess that my words were
sending to the trash her idea of a big house with a garden and a luxury car,
similar to all that my father gave to my mother being a business owner of a
company listed in Wall Street.
I didn’t suffered by their attitude, after all I wanted to try my own ideas,
and there was a possibility that my first teaching assignment was not going to
be in my hometown.
I had only had two jobs in my life. The first was a moment of madness from
my father who thought that you should know about his company from the bottom,
and made me go through all the tests to be a messenger. I was going to have the opportunity
to know to everyone and build a professional network. The hiring process took
almost two months and two days before the beginning of the World Series, HR
person called me to let me know I was hired to work during the night. I worked
with enthusiasm two days and then I could not ignore my seat behind home. I
lost my job and my father shouted at me during a week.
My second job was simple, I had to walk with my neighbor’s dog, what could
go wrong?, Ruffus knew for years and he was
a good dog, we walked during one hour and when I thought that I was enjoying the
landscape, Ruffus ran as possessed behind a cat, which did not hesitate to show
martial arts skills, in less than two seconds Ruffus was screaming because the
cat had heavy scratched him. As I could cleaned the blood, took Ruffus home,
asked him to not say anything, because their situation was shameful and I told my
neighbor that I would have to go visit
someone in Aspen. I didn’t ask a coin, I said Ruffus was going to be always my
friend.
As a blow of fate, perhaps because I really wanted to be independent and
show the world that I could do something for myself; my third job would be in
the suburbs of the city of Chicago. After living in the busy part of Atlanta in
Georgia, it would be a good change of air. A quiet place where I would be away
from my father’s eyes and my mother’s the care.
With my tiny salary, I managed to find a room that would allow me to walk
to school, with a library crossing a street and the opportunity to use the
public transport system if you wanted to know Chicago downtown. This allowed my
mother to keep her car for herself and gave me the excuse to visit her only on
special occasions.
That night after enjoying a dinner and go to the movies with my
two best friends, I went home to be able to get up early and take a flight from
Atlanta to O'Hare airport in Chicago. I had flown many times in my
life, but this trip had a special flavor. It would be the first day of the rest
of my life.
When I woke up next morning my mother was awake, it was
unusual for her, but she had prepared me a sandwich and an orange juice. When she
gave me the bag with my lunch, she told me that I liked that combination when I
went to school. I looked in her eyes for a moment. I think I saw my own fear
reflected in her eyes, so I hold & told her that everything would be fine,
that if things did not work, I promised to return and she could care for me
some years more.
I felt her hug like when I graduated, she stared for a moment and reminded
me that my family always has had financial resources and I did not prove
anything to anyone. I could only mumble: "I know, this is not to show
anyone that I can, I want to prove it to myself".
I looked her again and with a tear on her eyes she said loud and clear:
"I am proud of you".
She asked me if she could take me to the airport, but I told her that I
preferred to begin using public transport, but she did not accept my answer and
asked to a driver to take me to the airport.
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