Aspirations were ahead of me each school year
My role model, my sister, was very accomplished at age 14
She obtained first place in her class year after year
I admired and looked up to her as she wore “señorita” clothes and shoes
My fancy clothes, at age ten, were my dad’s dress gifts
I don’t remember choosing what to wear
But my sister, she had earn the right to choose her clothes!
She was mature, lady-like, and old enough to make her own decisions
She was in the varsity volleyball team and was part of the Youth Committee at church
I still admire my sister’s strength and courage
Especially when it came to living on her own, not by choice
My parents had decided to relocate our family to the States
Both my brother and I joined them six months after they left Peru
But my sister’s visa was rejected, so she moved to Argentina
There, my parents thought, she could live closer to my mom’s family
There she would attend university, but the plan was always for her to reunite with us
She was only 17 when my parents left Peru, and 18 by the time my brother and I left
I remember spending more time together with my sister as I got older
She finally took me on her trips with her girlfriends.
During the six months, while my parents lived in the States
My siblings and I moved to Chiclayo with our grandparents from my dad’s side
There, we spent one of the best and longest vacations we could afford
My brother had to hang out with 6 girls, grandma, aunt, two cousins, and us sisters
My grandpa entertained us with Chinese checkers, and army whistles each morning
We hang out at the beach, walked on the streets at night, talked, and laughed very much
After attending to change our visa status, the lawyer advice our parents to retrieve our paper work, we could no longer leave the country.
Back in Argentina, my sister’s visa had been rejected for the third time.
We were separated not knowing for how long.
Our grandma in Peru got ill, so my sister flew to Peru to take care of the responsibility of the oldest son of the family, our dad’s.
She got to see our grandma in her worse conditions, and stand with the rest of the family at the funeral.
While in Argentina, she got to experience our mom’s side of the family
There she became very close with our grandma, mom’s mom
Our grandma loved God dearly, on one of her bible study visits she was hit by a drunk driver causing her early death.
Again the responsibility and honor to be with the rest of the family at one of our family’s funeral became my sister’s, she had to bear severe pain
Eleven years went by, and our family was finally ready and anxiously waiting at the airport for my sister’s arrival from Buenos Aires, Argentina!
That moment was a living testimony of God’s love for us
We cried, we laughed, we kissed and hugged
And it felt like my sister had always being home
Nothing was awkward, everything was beautiful and emotional
From that year 2013 and the next years, she visited for Christmas and New Year’s
Until she was able to relocate to the States in 2017
We won’t know why God allowed this separation to happen, it’s irrelevant to ask why. But to believe and trust that miracles can happen strengthens our faith and our willingness to serve Him. Praise God for my sister, she can now experience the love of my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and the awesomeness of our nieces and nephew!
This text is dedicated to my sister, Nathaly Danna Tapia Ramos, who continues to carry the señorita role model to the next generation, our nieces Marcela and Milani
Tapia 