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THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN MY LIFE IMAM M'HANEDI<br />
Imam M'Hanedi<br />
My childhood wasn't the same as other children's because, first <strong>of</strong> all, my parents got<br />
divorced when I was only eight years old so I went back to Algeria with my daddy. His<br />
life wasn't easy either. He lost his parents when he was very young, his wife didn't want to<br />
stay with him, and after all that he had to bring me up alone – his daughter who used to cry<br />
every day to see her mom, and who didn't understand why she wasn't like other kids.<br />
But my daddy stayed brave and his objective was to give me the best education ever, in the<br />
best school. He made a lot <strong>of</strong> sacrifices for me. In my country, it's unusual to find a man<br />
who brings up his kids alone; it's very difficult. I used to cry all the time. I didn't brush my<br />
hair and I didn't know how to do a lot <strong>of</strong> things without my mom. My dad is a<br />
businessman so he was always busy. But even with all his work, he tried his best to make<br />
me happy and to spend his time with me when he could.<br />
At school it was harder, because I didn't know how to speak Arabic, and just a little French.<br />
Kids my age used to make fun <strong>of</strong> me and asked me, "how does it feel not to have a mom?"<br />
It wasn't really nice, but they were only kids. As my dad would say, "What does not<br />
destroy you makes you stronger." Even if it hurt me sometimes, I knew that there were<br />
those worse <strong>of</strong>f than me.<br />
So all this is to say that my dad is, and will always be, the most important person in my<br />
life; I'll never forget what he did for me, and I miss him a lot.<br />
The Immigrant Learning Center<br />
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