Limbs lost, and Redirection Needed

I suffered a loss of a young relative this week and it brought sadness and deep thought to me. I thought about how he used to live with me as a kid. Times were tough for them and my family welcomed them in. One thing that I have always admired about my family both close and distant is that we can always rely on family to help in times of need. I think it’s natural for us Hispanics to stick together; we tend to build that close knit with each other. His passing also made me reflect on my life and my path that I have taken. I think about if I’m at the place where I’m supposed to be. I wonder if I’m on the right track to fulfill my dreams. As I mentioned before, I didn’t come from a wealthy family; and that is an understatement. I enjoyed my childhood because I had friends and family that had cool toys like Nintendo’s, baseball equipment, and even a basketball court. I didn’t have things like that. I even rode a girl’s bike that was passed on from my eldest sister. It was pink, but that wasn’t anything a little spray paint couldn’t fix. The only problem was that the rubber handle bars were also pink and I couldn’t get the white paint to stick. Embarrassing isn’t it? Even with all the paint in the world, every kid knew that bicycles have different body styles along with seats. This one had one of those big padded banana ones. LOL. I’m laughing just thinking about it. Anyways, this is where I’m from. My family tree doesn’t consist of large amounts of wealth. I don’t know one millionaire in my bloodline. Can I be the first?

This tragic event even made me realize how unprepared most of us are. When my mother died a while back, we were totally unprepared. She had insurance that I don’t even want to go there. My grief was pushed aside by worries for my mother to have a nice funeral. It took all of my siblings to come up with a plan to give my mother a decent farewell. My cousin’s family was also unprepared. Thank goodness for our family, now they are planning some sort of fundraiser so my cousin. His burial will depend on donations from those who can give. Should it be this way? I don’t think so. From personal experience, it’s too much of a burden to worry about money during this period of time. I never hope this upon my children. It’s not my mother or cousins fault for the lack of financial planning. We just are raised this way. It’s the way our family tree is being grown. Well, I refuse to water that tree! I am making it a personal goal of mine to change the direction of my branch in this large tree grows. In what direction are you allowing yours to grow? Are you making a change in direction your family tree grows? When I leave this earth, I want to have affected my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. That is the legacy I plan on leaving. I want an empire to be passed on and on. All it takes is for me to make a ripple in this pond we call our lives. Will you be the one that affects those children for generations down the line? Push away the skeptics and drive on. WE CAN DO THIS!