Years passed….
Time slowly transformed everything. After all those hardships, Süreyya and Cem finally became American citizens. From the outside, life seemed to have finally fallen into place.
Haluk, meanwhile, became a respected doctor at a hospital in New York. No one who sees him today could imagine that he once drove a taxi, or understand the conditions under which he arrived in America, or the struggles he endured. He had become a name people respected: Dr. Haluk Saygıner.
Süreyya was still a smiling woman. But there are some smiles… that are only what appears on the surface. She had learned to hide everything she had lived through behind her laughter. Perhaps there was no other way to survive.
Cem…
For a while, he experienced life abroad through work. But that journey, too, did not end as he had hoped. He was attacked. And he returned to America. He continued his life from where he left off; as a student. Perhaps his purpose in this life was to keep learning… to remain in a constant state of becoming. Or perhaps the lesson he needed to learn was one he could never quite grasp—leaving him unable to move beyond that stage.
Süreyya, Haluk, and Cem’s story may seem to end here. But in truth, this is not just an ending.
It is also a reminder: Behind every success story, there are often invisible struggles.
And migration…
From the outside, it may look like a journey. But from within, it is often a bottomless well. No story resembles another. Like fingerprints; each one is unique, each one deep, each one carrying an unseen struggle.
So… Do not take away anyone’s hope. Because sometimes, hope is the only thing a person truly has.
Until the next story; where we will meet another migration journey.
Melda Sherman
www.meldasherman.com
Note: Names and locations have been changed.
To fully understand this story, please read the previous two articles.
