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Florencia Inige
ENGL 110
Professor Bruner
09/10/14
Memoir
My Family Away From Home
September 6th, 2001 was a normal, ordinary day just like any other for many people in the
world. For me however, it was a day that would change my life as well as the lives of my parents
and my sister. Although I may not remember much, I can imagine the apprehension that my
family must have been feeling and the thoughts that ran through each and every one of our
minds. I can picture the tears streaming down our faces, as we were unsure of what the future
would hold for us, still trusting that God would keep us safe. As a naive 5 year old, I can imagine
that I thought we would only leave for a few days and be back in no time. Little did I know that
thirteen years (and counting) would pass without physical contact with my family. Within those
thirteen years so much has happened, for better or for worse, but one thing that I know that
positively impacted my life was the day two people with took my family in as their own. Harold
and Elaine Douglas were those two people; they helped me realize that while blood is very
important and family will always be family, there are people that God will put in our lives who
will stay and prove that even though my family is approximately 5,035 miles away spread out
across Argentina, I have acquired a family in Fort Mill, South Carolina that has been there for us
no matter what.

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I remember as a kid I would look around at my classmates and friends and see them with
their grandparents or aunts and uncles. I didnt think too much back then about it, but always felt
like something was missing. I knew we were too far away from our family to see them, but I
didnt understand back then how difficult things were and it just wasnt as easy as wanting to go
see my aunt and play with my cousins. As I grew older, I would get ticked off as my friends
complained about having to go spend the holidays with their grandparents or going to family
reunions. They didnt understand how they were taking the time they had with their families for
granted. It was difficult for me, having to grow up without having my family around other than
my parents and siblings. In the thirteen years Ive been in this country, I have missed so much
that has happened back home in Argentina; one of which was a death that has left me devastated.
Some people dread going to funerals as do I, but when you never got to say goodbye, or give that
person who gave up on life that last glimmer of hope you wish there was something you could
have done. I have also missed the births of two of my cousins, whom I still have not had the
privilege to meet.
Within the time I spent wishing I had my family around me or at a shorter distance away
than thousands of miles, my little brother was born. There was a couple at our church who was
there for us helping with the baby shower and being there for the baby dedication. They were
already a part of my life, but have since then been really involved in my life. They became like
adopted grandparents for my siblings and I. I still remember the weekend my sister and I spent
with Elaine and Harold while my parents and baby brother were out of town, and when we had
dinner with Harolds parents. I never realized before how people who are not blood related could
become just like family and mean so much in my life. From the countless birthday/ Sunday

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lunches weve shared with them, being escorted into my Quinceaera by Harold, to them being
so generous as to pay for my textbooks for my first semester of college.
Not having family around us is pretty tough, but one thing that has stood out to me is that
Elaines two grandchildren, Hannah and Harry have grown up thinking of my siblings and I as
their cousins. Elaine has always taught Hannah and Harry that we were also part of their family,
without explaining how. It warms my heart how every time Hannah sees me, shell yell
cousin! or immediately tell her friends that I am her cousin. I love that she looks past the color
of my skin and how much darker it is than hers, and still thinks of me as part of her family.
These two wonderful people and their family have shown me that although my bloodrelatives are a long distance away in Argentina I also have family here who cares for my family
and I. Although I may not have shared many memories with my family back at home, I have
countless memories with the Douglas family that I thank God for every day. I still miss my
family, but I know were still in good hands here.

Figure 1 Mom's Picture of Me with Elaine and Harold at my Quinceanera

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Florencia Inige
ENGL 110
Professor Bruner
09/21/14
Memoir Reflection
My Reflection
When writing a paper, one must always think of what their purpose is and what kind of
information they must use in it. In writing my memoir, I had to consider many topic options and
narrow them down into one that I could easily write about. Throughout my brainstorming, as
well as in beginning to write my memoir, I ran across a few typical writers issues. The hardest
part in writing this memoir was how I had to organize the different parts of it to fit with my
topic. I often tend to stray from the topic I choose to write about but had to stay focused on the
main idea of this paper.
As far as time, I feel that we were given a fair time limit to turn the rough draft in, as well
as the final paper. If we were given a few more days I probably would try to think of one main
event to add to my story in order for the main point to be shown as to when I realized that Elaine
and Harold were a part of my family. I do have a few different examples but there is no set main
point where I explain when I came to this conclusion. I realized after finishing my paper that I
could not think of a major event that I could fit in. This was the best input I received; however I
just could not come to a decision to choose where to incorporate that in to the memoir. In the
future, I hope to improve on getting my main idea across.

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The best part of writing this paper was thinking back to how it felt for my family to move
to a foreign place. It brought back a lot of emotions as I thought about the different events that
took place, as well as the people I had to say goodbye to. It helped me remember that I still have
family around me and am very blessed. I did leave out a part about my dog that was very sad for
me to think about and write.
Overall, writing this memoir was relatively easy; it was very coincidental that during the
writing process the anniversary of the day we moved to the United States happened. It helped me
to remember that my parents made a very good decision in bringing us here and that I am lucky
to have all of these wonderful opportunities. Things like looking back at events like this one help
you realize that sacrifices are only made so that things can be better.