Just a Small-Town Girl (Unedited)

Whispers carried through the wind had struck my grandmother with force. Her heart was torn in half by a curse cast upon her and her daughters after her.

When it comes to marriage, there is a foretold curse that the women born from Mari Tran’s bloodline will end up having difficulties in love.

My grandmother, Mari Tran, was the most beautiful woman in her small town. Her beauty attracted my good-for-nothing-grandfather. He was grandma’s first love, and you would think their marriage was just as beautiful as her. But soon enough the curse beheld her. She was the first women from her bloodline to succumb to her fate—divorce. But that did not persuade her to not find love again.

My aunt, Macy Tran, the eldest of the three sisters, experienced heartache at the young age of twenty. But like grandma she was not deterred from finding love again. She had fallen, head over heels, with a man that promised not to hurt her like her last. He remained true to his words. But then, she was dazzled by her ex-lover. Smitten with his words, his gifts, and amazing smile she left the man the promised her true love and healing. She remarried her ex-lover. Only to be heartbroken repeatedly. Their relationship ended with deceit. To this day my aunt remains single.

My other aunt, Susan Tran-Mills, who is the youngest out of the three sisters, was arranged to be married. She did not like or love the man, and you could say the feelings were mutual. Truth be told they were in love with other people. During their debacle (that they had to call a marriage) exchanges of hateful words would be spat during the late hours of the night. Neither of them were saints during their marital arrangement. But once grandpa Mills had passed, which was five years into their agreement; Aunt Susan divorced the man, ending their arrangement. Soon after, she got married to the man that help create my cousin: Samantha Dao. But it was not the man she was truly in love with. For he had his own fiasco.

My cousin, Samantha Dao, had a beautiful wedding in Hawaii. The wedding brought tears to everyone’s eyes. It was right after her eighteenth birthday which was five months ago. But as the curse foretold, my cousin could not escape her fate. The divorce paperwork has been signed and filed. The saddest part is that there are twin babies in her belly. On a happier note, she and her ex-husband remain great friends despite their circumstances. All of this could have been avoided if she had listened to us about his true nature. She was blinded by her love for him.

My mother, on the other hand, was married to my father. God bless her soul wherever she may be. Like any couple they had their differences. But none of us could have been prepared for the outcome. Once I turned eighteen, my mother had left without a trace. Gone like the wind without a note, a sign, or any contact. Her whereabouts could not be tracked, her phone refused to ring, and everything was left behind. Did my mother want to be found? Why did she leave in the first place? There could only be one conclusion— the curse. It wrapped its greedy fingers around her, convincing her to not only leave my father but leave me behind too.

Thus, I conclude the theory explaining why the women in my family are cursed when it comes to love and marriage.

For this reason, I do not believe marriage is for me. Heck, is love real? Is it tangible? Or the question I should be asking is: is love attainable? At least, I don’t know if I will find love, or that love will find me. But for other women, not part of Mari Tran’s bloodline, I know they will find the love that lasts. At least some of them will. Statistically speaking, divorce rates in the United States are between 40 to 50 percent for their first marriage. I’m being realistic here! Do not pay me any mind.

Now, I’ve dated in high school, but the guys did not want to be exclusive. At least they did not want to be exclusive to me. I guess, being young, they just wanted to explore other options? Ultimately those alternatives ended up being my close friends that the guys were pinning for.

Whatever.

The heart wants what it wants, and who am I to stop them?

Now that I’m eighteen, I have realized there is more to life than getting married and having a family. I’m going to community college to become a veterinary technician. They don’t make a lot of money, but at least I’m helping those that I love—animals. I adore all animals! Even the creepy crawly ones. When it comes to living beings, I cannot help but have a place in my heart for them.

My dream is not to end up like my friends who married young and are starting families. I want more. I want to put myself out there. I want to get out of this small town! I don’t want to end up like those who never left their comfort zone.

Life should be fun!

Like that saying goes back in 2011, Y.O.L.O., meaning: You Only Live Once!

There must be more to life than marriage and having kids, right?

“Just three more years and I can leave this small town,” I say to myself in the bathroom mirror as I’m getting ready for my college courses, feeling confident that my life is headed in the right direction. Soon enough, I will have saved enough money to move to my dream city—New York (also known as The Big Apple)!