Family by Ethan Jobita Jemadari
“FAMILY…functional, dysfunctional, uniquely personal.” – Don Riesett, Writing Mentor & Teacher
If you know me long enough, then you would know my family roots are from Kenya, Tanzania, and Afghanistan. But I wasn’t born in any of these countries. One of my family members was born in each of these countries. My mother was born in Kenya, my father was born in Tanzania, and my father’s dad was born in Afghanistan. To be completely honest with you, I don’t know that much about my family in Saudi Arabia. So right now I am going to tell you more about the Kenyan and the Tanzanian parts of me.
My mother was born in Nairobi, which is the capital of Kenya. My mom came to the United States at the Young age of 19, to pursue her dance career. But that really didn’t work out, and now she is an Xray-tech. We are all proud of our Ethnic background. We still bring our culture here. We eat foods like chapati, samosas, ugali, onion meat, and many more.
Now on the Tanzanian side. My father was born in Dar es Salaam, which is the capital of Tanzania. My father was a pretty bad kid at the time. He would always play sports and skip school, until my grandfather sent him to Kenya to go to a boarding school. That was the last time my father saw his dad, since he was killed in a car crash. After completing high school, my father left Tanzania to get away from all the pain, and he came to America at the age of 19 as well. He met my mom in college, and they had me.
Now for the Afghanistan side, there is one story I can tell. The story of how my Grandmother met my Grandfather. My Grandfather was Muslim, and his parents were very strict on the type of women he would be able to be with. He was told that he was not able to date anyone outside of the Muslim Faith. Until one day he met my grandmother, who was Christian. My grandfather was deeply in love with my grandmother. His parents found out he was dating a Christian, and they were very disappointed. He decided to leave his family to be with my Grandmother, and that’s how my family is now with the Christian Faith.
Ethan Jobita Jemadari
October 18, 2024