We meet: Vieux Kande. Just a six foot nine, two-hundred eighty beast from the slums of Africa. Me, Jackson Arnberg, a puny fifth grader looks up at him like he’s the biggest thing alive. He’d soon become a member of a family, and no one knew what to expect. His smile is bigger than the ocean, and immediately I can tell he’ll be a perfect fit. We’ll turn out to be not only brothers, but best friends.
5 days later: Who would’ve expected Vieux and I would connect on so many levels? He tells me stories of growing up in Africa and how he made it to America. I tell him my childhood, and although our stories were so different from each other, we just seemed to understand each other.
12 days later: I come home from school crying after a long day filled with some horrible grades. My door’s closed, head in pillow, and I’m bawling my eyes out. I still…show more content… I try to hold my own, but he dominates me with no mercy. After the game he claims, “Where’s all that smack talk now?” I only say one word, “Rematch.” He shows no mercy once again, beating me 21-2. After all the smack talk, he tells me he’s impressed with my game. So much has happened in so little time. We’re brothers, already.
50 days later: This was the day when my life changed forever. I was sitting in Vieux’s room, writing about his journey from Africa to America, and what the whole experience was like. Over and over again, I heard him say the same word: Grateful. Grateful to be here. Grateful to have this amazing family. Grateful to be sharing his story with me right now. He’s constantly reminding me how lucky he is to be here. Coming into this talk, I was just a bratty little fifth grader, who didn’t even think to take my plate to the sink after dinner; however, after this I would take every opportunity to make up for lost time and appreciate what I have. He’s changing my life for the better day by day. Who’s the real lucky
