Let’s take a specific case to understand what we, as a family, can build. Decisions and desires change frequently.
By Nelson Merchan Cely
Happiness, mistakes, or the gaps we encounter lead us to discover new opportunities and challenges that only as a family can we face.
My wife and I weren’t bored; we were simply thinking about finding another place to live. Suddenly, our oldest daughter, along with her four children, decided to reunite with her husband. That family reunion also led us to return to the United States.
Once in this beautiful country, my daughter and her husband opened a small space for us to live together. Despite the limitations in food, space, or the places we could go, our family grew stronger. What was truly valuable was walking united, moving forward together as one heart.
Today, as I look back, I find 25 years of distance in relation to everything we’ve lived. It’s hard to think about how we could have started this journey. Of course, it wasn’t a tourist trip, but the search for a new place to realize our dreams and find a dignified space for our lives. We had already taken the first steps when our oldest son came to pursue his specialization, and later, our third daughter completed hers in search of new horizons.
At that time, it all began after my retirement, when I was presented with the opportunity to work at another company. Experience and the years had prepared me not to stop, but to keep seeking new goals. And those goals weren’t just personal: they were the shared achievements as a family, the possibility of glimpsing a better horizon together.
But how did all this begin? The answer was always family. It was the engine that drove us to make decisions, beyond economic resources or external securities. The spark of our hope was born from family unity.
In some way, we were adventurous enough to venture into the unknown. We arrived in a new country, but with a heart full of family love that left no room for doubt.
On this new path, reuniting with relatives who lived in Florida was fundamental. They became guides who helped us take the first steps: where to sleep, how to start, and above all, how to create a space where our family could grow.
That’s how we discovered new alternatives and were able to decide what was best for this new beginning. At that moment, thinking about splitting up or going back was never an option; what mattered was finding a home. It was then that we met a family who, upon receiving a new job opportunity, was selling their house. My interest was immediately piqued. Within hours, we were touring the area with our relatives. I even got a bicycle to explore every corner of the place that would, in the future, be our home.
Buying that house didn’t just mean putting a roof over our heads. It was the beginning of our dreams in this country. Over time, that place became the meeting point, the place we could always return to, the house where we celebrated, where we cried, where we planned, where we dreamed. In other words: it became the true home of our family.
