A Childhood Memory That Shaped My Path

When I think about the childhood memories that shaped who I am today, my mind always goes back to Peru those first five years before I came to the U.S. I didn’t grow up in the typical way most people imagine. I was raised by my older sister and her husband, along with their two kids. They also helped raise my brother and my other sister. My siblings were a lot older than me, my brother was 11 and my sister was 16 when I was born—so in many ways, I was the baby of the whole family.

What I remember most from those early years is how family-oriented everything was. My sister and her husband took on a huge responsibility by basically raising me while my parents left for the U.S. when I was just one year old. Their goal was to work, save money, and eventually bring all of us over. But during that time, my sister stepped into that mother role so naturally that for a long time, I genuinely thought she was my mom. As I got older, she slowly explained the truth, but the love she showed me never changed.

Growing up in that environment where everyone looked out for one another, where love and responsibility went hand in hand, set the foundation for the kind of parent I am now. Today, with my own daughters, I try my best to create the same kind of safe, loving home I experienced in Peru. I know what a healthy environment feels like because I lived it.

Things shifted when I came to the U.S. The environment was different. My parents were physically present again, but they were older, tired, and working nonstop to support all of us. Family gatherings here were also different. Drinking was encouraged sometimes heavily even at kids’ parties. Even as a child, something about that never felt right to me. It didn’t match the warmth and closeness I knew from Peru. And even though I was young, I held onto that feeling.

As I got older, that early sense of what a family should feel like stayed with me. It kept me grounded and helped me create something better for my own kids. Not everyone in my family had that same shift. My siblings who grew up in both environments before me held onto customs around drinking and other habits that didn’t align with the kind of home I wanted to build. Over time, those habits shaped their mindsets too, less open, less humble, and not always focused on creating peace in their own homes.

Because of that contrast, I appreciate my sister and her husband even more. They gave me something priceless: a living example of love, unity, and responsibility. I still call them Mom and Dad because that’s truly who they were to me, and honestly, still are. The love they showed helped shape me into the person and parent I am today.

And because of them, the world gained one more person who’s trying to pass that same love and stability forward—first to my daughters, and hopefully to everyone else I meet along the way.