Growing up in a challenging environment, an individual worked multiple jobs while studying at Yale to support their immigrant parents. A life-changing encounter with a homeless Afghanistan veteran deepened their understanding of struggle and resilience. Reflecting on their own childhood experiences in cramped Brooklyn apartments, they made a promise to help their parents secure a home. After years of dedication, the individual fulfilled that promise, culminating in their parents moving into their first house in Staten Island shortly after graduation.
Trusting my instincts, I reached for the Narcan I always carried in my backpack. Within minutes, the man regained consciousness. When I offered to call emergency services, he shook his head.
As a child, the idea of a house felt abstract, almost indulgent. When I was growing up, we made do with small Brooklyn apartments, and those spaces held all the joy in the world.
It's been nearly three years since I made that pledge, and shortly after my graduation this past May, we moved into our first house in Staten Island.
Though his identity as a Black man and Afghanistan veteran with PTSD was worlds apart from mine, there was something painfully familiar in his voice - a weariness I recognized in my own parents.
Collection
[
|
...
]