Um sonho americano

Uma das pessoas que sigo no Instagram é a Behida Dolic, que é uma designer de chapéus e roupa e sobrevivente de cancro da mama. Eu sabia que ela tinha nascido na Bósnia e tinha perdido os pais quando ainda era jovem, mas sempre tive curiosidade acerca de como tinha chegado aos EUA. Pois ela contou essa parte da sua história e é mesmo um sonho americano.

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My beloved TV family ❤️This story calls for a bit of an introduction 🌱- I was born and raised in a little village in Bosnia. In 1998, I moved to United States with my brother and two sisters as a result of Bosnian war. At 16, without speaking word of English, I arrived at the Chicago airport with only a sealed plastic United Nations bag containing the proof of my existence — papers that identified me as a war orphan seeking asylum. Final destination: Waterloo, Iowa. And just like that, I walked into the world of possibilities. I learned English by watching endless hours of The Golden Girls. I worked in a meat packing factory until one day I met a girl named Jenna Keller, a girl who changed my life! She helped me get a job at Papa John’s Pizza, where she worked, by convincing the manager to hire me. No one on earth needs to speak English in order to fold pizza boxes, she told him. The following few months Jenna drove me around in her old rickety car, which also looked like a war survivor. She introduced me to her favorite band, the Beatles, David Bowie and The Cranberries. She took me to her favorite store, Goodwill, which apparently carried one-of-a-kind pieces not found anywhere else! Then one day after work, she decided I should come home with her and she’d tell her parents that I should live with them. So that’s exactly what we did. Overnight, the Kellers became my very unusual family. The kind of family that I have only seen on TV before. They placed post-it notes all over the house to teach me English. They taught me that there is a difference between “eggs” and “legs,” “but” and “borrow.” Later that year, they became my legal guardians and helped me finish high school. It has been many years since I lived with Jenna Keller and her family, but their generosity never leaves me. One day, a working class family in Waterloo, Iowa decided to use their heart instead of their judgment and doubt. And as a result, they changed the course of my life. I am eternally grateful. I will love you forever Jenna Keller😭❤️Thank you for teaching me that there was so much more for me in this world!! And that I could be anyone I wanted to be! 🙏🏼 @jennakellerthompson

A post shared by Behida Dolić Millinery (@behidadolic) on Jan 7, 2020 at 5:57pm PST