Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The History of My Family: Part 2
I consider my mother a compassionate, driven, and extremely intelligent woman. She was born in Santiago, Chile and came to the United States at the age of 12. Being the oldest of five children, she was the protector of her siblings and her mother since her father was always away on business. Once my mother graduated, she left Milwaukee, Wisconsin and went back to Santiago, Chile for medical school. During that time, Salvador Allende was President and appointed Augusto Pinochet command of the Chilean army. Pinochet and his Army took over the Chilean Government which lead to unanswered questions regarding Allende's death. Pinochet appointed himself president and my mother's world and other Chileans worlds in terror. While my mother would be sitting in class, a group of solders would come into the classroom, read out names of her classmates, and that would be the last that she would see them. After almost being killed herself while trying to find a family member that was out after the military appointed curfew, she had no choice but to drop out of medical school and return to the United States. Her personal experiences of the coup also allowed her to meet people who were a part of Chilean history like Isabelle Allende and members of the Parra family. With the coup of Chile being an unknown subject to many individuals, these events made her the compassionate, head strong, activist which not many professionals have in her line of work.
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