Challenge 1: Puzzle

135. Find x. (U of Chicago)

As I live through the days of my life, there are moments I just get struck. Every day, every minute, every second of my life seems to be a puzzle of no complete picture. I try to reach my goal of completing the puzzle, hoping that the completed puzzle would give me an astonishing, amazing picture that no one could have ever imagined to come out of the tiny, little pieces of the puzzle.

I remember the day I was about to give up matching the puzzle. It was the day I found my mom collapsing before the news of my aunt said to be diagnosed of uterine cancer. My aunt’s doctor found out that she was in the last stage only when he opened her stomach on the operation bed. Secretly, without letting my grandparents know about the news, my mom and I flew that very day to where my aunt was, lying down on a hospital bed happily with the thought of being a cancer-survivor after the surgery. We didn’t know where to start from. The puzzle was too hard to be completed. With the survival rate being less than 10%, we could give up. But we didn’t because we knew the satisfaction and fulfillment waiting for us.

And thus began our start with a firm, confident heart. We let my grandparents know about the news. Though they went through hard times at first, they were strong. But to our surprise, the strongest turned out to be my aunt. She sensed and faced the reality that was laid in front of her.

Things might have been different if we didn’t give a try. We were scared to find x, the unknown picture. I'm still worried to find other variables that lie in my coming future. But as I match up the pieces one by one, I’ll find out even the smallest details of the picture. Hence, I keep on trying. And that’s all that matters because in the end, I’ll look back and smile at the experiences and trials I went through just like my aunt who is now a real cancer-survivor. I'll continue to find x, even y and z.