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Yvonne Koenders
I used to think of myself as a helpless person who was tossed into the sea of life, clinging to any piece of driftwood I could grasp onto. The wild seas and currents took me wherever they wished. I...view moreI used to think of myself as a helpless person who was tossed into the sea of life, clinging to any piece of driftwood I could grasp onto. The wild seas and currents took me wherever they wished. I had a little rest in calm waters and blue oceans, only to be picked up again by a storm that spit me out in America.
But then something happened. I met other people who told me how they had longed to come to America—foreigners like me who had planned and saved for years. They worked several jobs a day until they fell, exhausted, into bed each night, but with a dream that was so strong it kept them going. They did all they could for the privilege to live in America.
When I heard the stories about the hardships some of them went through to make that dream come true, it started me thinking, and I realized that I had never dreamed of coming to America. I had been happy where I was, yet once again, I had let circumstances dictate my future and force me out of the country I had come to love, rather than me planning for it. This time, I wanted to take my life into my own hands, so I began building a boat I could steer.
There were still unexpected turns, and I made mistakes, some because I was a foreigner in a country I did not understand, others because of thinking wishfully instead of looking at the reality of the situation. But finally, I learned my lessons and found a safe harbor—my husband Bill, who is there for me no matter what. He never tells me what to do and always lets me be the person I want to be.
Besides painting (which never fails to make me happy), I lost the remaining dark clouds in my head by telling my story. Now I wake up in the morning in our modest home, glad for another day and content with my existence, my husband, and my dog. We will never be wealthy (if you count wealth by money alone), but we are rich in other ways. In my free time, there are more paintings to be created and more glorious empty pages waiting to be written on. How wonderful is that?
Right now, I can say that for all I went through, I would not change a thing. After all, it made me the woman I am now.view less