User:3primetime3/Childhood Hero

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!style="padding:0px 5px; background-color:#EC84CA; border-style:solid; border-color:white; border-width:2px; " colspan="21|My Role Model If someone were to ask me to describe my grandma, a few words instantly come to mind. “Intelligent.”  “Charismatic.”  “Caring.”  “Resilient.”  Of course not to mention “stubborn.”  However, for my grandma, that is a positive character trait.  Everyone in my family knows her as a generous but determined businesswoman who has successfully dealt with every tough roadblock throughout her life.
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Although my grandma lived most of her life before I was born, my mom would always tell me amazing stories about her, such as how she single-handedly raised nine kids. My grandma gained these skills by caring for her younger siblings when her mom and dad were at work. In addition, she possessed limitless innate talents - from being fluent in four languages to acquiring expert business skills without formal education. She took the initiative to start a family textile business from scratch, being the sole one to look for clients and make managerial decisions. Investing so much into a starting business was rough as it was hard to keep up with the demands of society; however, she ensured that all of her kids went to school and received the opportunity at a formal education that she herself never had.

When communists took over Vietnam and my grandma lost her business, she did not give up when everyone else would have. She bought gold, watches, and jewelries, and hid them, asking family members to safekeep them. She raised chickens and pigs in the house so she had a reason to keep it. She paid bribe to officials, allowing her to keep some of her belongings. In 1978, she saved three kids, including my mom, from being shipped away to an unknown location for community service. Through business connections, she was able to pay for passage for three kids to escape the communist regime. She worked day and night to raise the other five children, her sisters, nieces, and nephews - at one time 17 people. She bought machines to make steel crafts, desperately looking for customers, finding innovative ways to make money.

Soon, she paid the passage for everyone to come to America. My mom stated to me multiple times that even though she and her family were finally safe, she kept going. She the bus every day on her own to adult school in order to learn English, a fifth language, without asking any of her children to take her. She persisted, even when she faced arthritis and the summer heat exhausted her. Even though she was no longer stuck in the communist regime, she never forgot her roots, traveling to Chinatown in order to send money to Vietnam, helping her friends, relatives and previous neighbors.

Ever since I was born, I remember every week coming my grandma to say hello and seeing her either studying diligently in her room or trying to painstakingly recreate correct grammatical sentences in English. On the weekends and holidays, she would also cook a feast and call everyone over to have a nice lunch and dinner. Afterwards, she would enjoy playing poker with the adults.

Even though she is no longer physically here with us, no one in our family will ever forget her. I mean, how could we when her aura radiates in all of us, when I am here because of her sacrifices? I still feel her omnipotence and spiritual presence, smiling from heaven as she supports me on my endeavors, showing me that even though life is rough, any obstacle could be overcome. Everyday, it feels as if she’s still here in me, in all of us. It’s as if she never really left us.

I love you Grandma, so much that words can’t even describe. Thank you so much for everything.

A role model is one who truly makes you believe that everything is possible.