Friday, March 23, 2012

Goodbye, American Dream

The other month we ended our dreams of going to America. My wife couldn't control her emotions when she wrote the formal withdrawal letter. She cried.



She is one of those nurses who had hoped of immigrating to the US. Her application has been pending for years, and yet we patiently waited. Most of her batchmates and friends are there already and she is one of the few left behind. Our priority date was May 2006 and as per latest visa bulletin, we're only a month away.

But passion died years ago, compounded with the expiry of her CG and IELTS. She failed the NCLEX twice and it had dampened her hope and desire. Though the exam can now be taken in Manila, she doesn't want to undergo another excruciating review and pay the expensive exam fees.

Also, hospital experience is now a strict requirement which she had none. She had applied at a nursing home which do not require hospital experience. But we heard lots of nursing homes in the US had closed because of their country's financial woes. It used to be that retirement and pension plans pay for the retirees nursing homes expenses. But these were all gone with the economic crisis.

We prayed hard for this plan and it seems that the answer was a clear 'NO!'. So today, we'll shift our dreams to somewhere else. I will no longer have to imagine working from home in Texas or driving a school bus in Idaho. We'll rebuild our dreams from where we are right now. Wifey and I have lots of things to do.