The before and after of Paula's life 

A few months ago, I watched the K-drama When Life Gives You Tangerines, which premiered this year. There's no villain to fight or evil to defeat in that series; the story merely reflects what life is like, with its good and bad moments. Because that's exactly what life is: a collection of things—experiences, people, situations, feelings, and eventualities that shape everyone's path and also everyone's personality, because most of the time, we are just a consequence of what we live.

This writing challenge, as I understand it, is all about writing a short story about a rebirth—some great change between the “before” and the “after” in someone else’s life. So I think Paula’s story fits this theme perfectly.

Paula and her family’s sweet life gets shaken up

Paula was a little girl, she was just less than six years old when her world went south. She lived with her parents and siblings. She was the youngest, the house princess, her dad's favorite. Paula had it all: from a loving family to a comfortable social position because her dad owned his own ranch full of cattle, pigs, chickens, and even crops. As you can imagine, they enjoyed a big, great life; they wanted for nothing. The family had a spectacular present and a truly promising future.

But their circumstances shattered in an instant, and definitely not for the better—just the opposite. Their mother, still quite young, suddenly began feeling unwell. Within a few days, she was bedridden. When she passed away, she left a devastating void in the entire family, particularly for Paula, who was just five at the time. She was just a little girl needing her mother more than ever and desperately missing her mother more than ever.

But time went on, and step by step the family settled back into the normal routine. Paula tried to distract herself with her toys and hard studying; her siblings did the same. Meanwhile, the father kept working on his land, trying to be the same provider and present father he was for his family. But he was silently grieving, pretending to be stronger in front of his kids. However, his heart couldn't keep all the pain. Just 13 days after his wife's passing, he was struck by a massive, sudden heart attack. In a blink of an eye, he was gone too. Paula and her brothers and sisters were all alone.

I try to put myself in her shoes, but even though she told me the story herself, I still can't quite grasp the pain she must have felt—losing almost everything in less than two weeks. I mean, she and her siblings had been orphaned in a world that felt so big and unknown to them. After their dad's funeral, their aunts stepped in to take care of them—one aunt took Paula and her sister, and the other took Paula’s brothers. They were not just separated but sent to live in different states. That was the last time Paula could call her family, family.

Loss as the reason for her rebirth

For her, it was like dying and being born again. Her entire past life ended right there. She wasn't going to be the pampered daughter or “Daddy’s little princess” anymore, and she realized it the moment she left home. Back in 1926, there were no easy rides. With transportation so scarce, they were forced to travel nearly 100 miles on foot. It was a grueling nine-day journey just to reach their new life. Like I was saying, her life did a complete flip. Her days began at 4:00 AM helping her aunt with housework, a routine that shaped her into a resilient woman.

One day, she met a good and decent young man at a bus stop—she just asked him for the time, and they ended up talking the whole trip. Years later, they got married and had a beautiful family with seven kids. It wasn't easy, though, and sadly not all the kids made it to adulthood. But the whole time Paula was here, she gave us so much love and understanding. It's been 17 years since she's been gone, but we still think of her with so much love.

She had to reinvent herself over and over again, not just when her parents were gone or when her own sons were gone but because of other struggles too. She was a real fighter, and she deserves nothing but the best up in heaven. Yes, she's right up. And I am certain of this because in her final rebirth, Paula became an angel, watching over her family with the same unique care that only she could give.

Thank you for everything, Mom.