The Smile We Can Find
In 2019, Guillermo Alfredo Estrada, a bus driver in Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt received a piece of news that left him with a stake through his heart. His 15-year-old daughter Adriana had been diagnosed with a larger than normal-sized thyroid. The thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland in the neck just in front of the trachea. “Seeing my daughter healthy and from one day to another to be informed that she is sick, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t even drive,” Guillermo said, shaking his head from side to side and pressing his lips together.
Adriana, at an early age, had to control her sugar and salt levels since the doctor said that if the thyroid is complicated with diabetes, she would have to take pills for her entire life. One day Adriana made lemonade, and a cup of that lemonade yielded 2 liters of lemonade because of its amount of sugar. Also, when she had lunch with her friends, at every moment her eyes would be hypnotized into food while licking her lips. But, in those moments she reminds herself to control her craving because she knew of the damage it would do to her health. Guillermo, knowing how much his daughter is suffering, sobs in his room, and happiness each time was withdrawn.
This year, Adriana has been fighting her thyroid for three years and the size of it has drastically decreased. Because of the pandemic, his father lost his job as a bus driver after working there for eleven years. He sustains his expenses for day-to-day work. School administrators give work to Guillermo by asking him to paint their houses. He hopes that a ray of happiness enters through his window and illuminates his dark situation.
His family is not doing well economically; even so, Guillermo still manages to find a way to take his daughter to the clinic to have X-rays taken at the end of each month. “When I work, I think of her,” he said without blinking as if in those moments he was remembering how quickly his little girl grew. As when he never forgets that when Adriana was 5, every time she jumped, her hair moved where the wind wanted it and she never lost that spark of happiness. “I’d rather have all these things happen to me, rather than her,” Guillermo said, trying not to make a tear fall while his clenched fist was placed on his lips.
Due to fewer profits, Guillermo made the decision, “I had to take my oldest son Adrian out of university. This year, my daughter Adriana will have to go to university, but I can’t afford it.” Weeks after, he received the tragic news that his uncle, who he considers his second dad, passed away because of COVID-19. Guillermo does not understand why a melody of happiness, he can’t hear. “I don’t know why these things happen to me if I’m a good person.”
On the outskirts of Guillermo’s house, his son’s motorcycle was recently stolen. Adrian no longer has transportation to get to work, and due to the family’s economic status, they can’t afford to pay for public transportation; therefore there is no profit on Adrian’s side. Still, when asked, “Are you happy?” With a smile on his face, Guillermo answered, “Despite all the difficulties, I am happy because my family appreciates the effort I make. I am happy because I have my family by my side.” That ray of light that Guillermo wished so longed for has already entered.
We as humans talk about happiness often, but it is too broad. Peace and contentment are different words for happiness. People might feel that sensation with money or possessions, but for Guillermo, it is not. He defines happiness as the feeling of belonging that his family gives him. His everyday reason to wake up is knowing that every sweat that he breaks is due to the love he has for his family because they are his happiness. Guillermo knows well that it doesn’t matter how life is, if he faces the obstacles along with his family, that light shines in the darkness. It is up to us to give happiness our own definition.