"The Reason Why I Write" by Maribel Rodriguez

I love to write. When I write I feel like I could show my readers who I am without even meeting them. When I put my pencil next to a blank piece of paper, it feels like magic. My hand just starts to write what I am feeling. As I keep going, I can picture what I am writing. It is a feeling that I cannot explain. I write about many different things: my parents, my daughter, my husband, my past, my future, the world, my culture, and so on.

There are times where I could hear my parents’ voices and how they always tell me that it is better to live your life the best way you can. They tell me that it is always better to tell the truth because a lie will soon come out. To always follow the rules and be a good citizen. To do my best in school and become somebody great, the person they know I am. I write for them and what they have taught me. I write to tell my parents how proud I am to be their daughter. To show them how much I love them with a thousand words.

I write for my daughter to show her who I am now and who I want to become. I write to tell her how much I will always love her. To show her that ever since I found I was pregnant I have become a happier person. That no matter what happens I will always be proud of her. I write to leave her a part of me when am gone, a part of my soul, and my memories. To let her know my past and everything I have been through. Therefore, that one day she learns from my mistakes and does not have to suffer as I did. I write to let her know I am here by her side and that I will be on her team no matter who are opponents are.

I write for my husband that I love with all my heart. To tell the whole world how much I love him and that I would die if he were not by my side. To tell our story and how it all started with a simple, “Hey.” How everything changed when we found out, we were going to be parents. I write how I plan to spend the rest of my life with him. How I picture us when we are eighty years old. I write about how I want our wedding to be and how we want our lives to be in ten, twenty years. To tell everybody about our adventures when we were in high school, we would ditch to his house, and all those times we spent together. To show through my writing how he always takes care of me in every way that he can.

I write to be a better person inside and out. To thank my parents for everything they have done for me. To have a better future for my family and I and to show them that they mean the world to me. I write to scream to the world what I am feeling. To always show my true colors. I write to show my ethnicity, culture, intelligence, braveness, strength and love.