El Sacrificio

For those of you who don't speak Spanish, I will translate the today's title for you: El Sacrificio means The Sacrifice. Now you may be wondering what El Sacrificio is since it is capitalized, even when not the title. El Sacrificio is the name of the small town that father grew up in in Mexico. It's a dirt road town that is smaller than most apartment complexes here in the USA. You could walk from one end of the town to the other in about 10 minutes. This, coupled with the fact that it's in the middle of a mountain basin in the desert, has always made the name of the town a joke for me and my family in years past. I always used to say it was a sacrifice to live in that place. 

Puns aside, it's a place that holds a place in my heart that will always give in to the nostalgia. Many summers and Christmases were spent running around the dirt roads and playing on the playground in the park. It was not uncommon for me to be gone for hours on end and my parents never worrying about me. It was like America used to be in the 50's. Unfortunately, I don't know what it's like anymore, as I haven't been there in over a decade. Many factors have played into that, but it always seems that there has been something to keep me away. I still have a lot of family in that area, most notably my grandparents. I have talked to them many time over the years, but have not been able to hug them or sit at a table with them in that decade. I have on occasion been known to find that small spec of town on Google Maps, and leave it up on my screen as I work at my desk. Maybe I do this because I miss my family, or I long for a simpler time. Probably somewhere in between. What I do know is that I am older now, and hopefully wiser.

I find it very fitting that my family lives in El Sacrificio, because in the end that's what family is really all about: making those sacrifices for those you love, no matter how hard it is or how much it hurts. This is reinforced to me on an almost daily occurrence, as the countdown to moving to the UAE begins to hit the home stretch. There will be sacrifices made by a lot of people in this whole situation, but in the end it's what is best for Betina and I and our families in the long run, even if they can't see that right now. We have to sacrifice the time and memories that we would have had here to create a better life for us and make it so that we can help our families even more. I know for a fact that some of our family members don't agree with our decision and feel like we are running away, but again, we have to do what we feel is right, knowing those sacrifices that have to be made.

In the end, everyone will have their opinion and thoughts on Betina and I moving. Some will support us, while others won't. For those that don't, I can only hope that they wish the best for us and at the very least support us, if not our decision. I know it will be a hard adjustment for us and our families, and there will most likely be some resentment, I'm sure. At the end of the day though, we have to remember that family is about love, understanding, acceptance, and forgiveness. El Sacrificio será difícil, pero importante en la vida. Es nuestro carga por tener a los que amamos.