Althea Osea
Ms. Anastasia Rioux
ENG4U9-90
12th July 2025
On The Drive Home
It is true, they say, that you only realize the true value of the things around you once they
are taken away from your hands. I did not realize how much my extended family meant to me
until I left my home country, the Philippines. I wish I had been more caring, loving, and
appreciative, had expressed my love and affection in ways that I know, and not taken it for
granted. That is what I realized on the drive home to my new house, a few moments after landing
in this new country, far away from home. A silent realization settled in my heart and mind: that a
16-hour flight from home was about to change everything in my life. It was not just about the
distance, but it was like walking away from the old me, walking away to the familiarity I once
knew, and turning my back on the people who made me who I am today. It was the beginning of
a life that would never be the same.
I was 12 when my parents left me and my siblings in the Philippines—my mother to
pursue graduate studies, and my father to work and be with her. They left us in the care of my
paternal grandparents and Aunt Sarah, who had looked after me since I was young. I did not
mind; I was used to them being away, and my childhood was filled with warm memories of my
extended family. I supported their plan, thinking it was only temporary. But at 16, coming home
from school tired but happy, my world shifted when Aunt Sarah showed me a plane ticket—with
my name on it.
