And the Earth Did not Devour Him & Cajas de carton

There are many times that it seems like 'bad things happen to good people', the story And the Earth Did not Devour Him portrays this relatable feeling in an eye opening way.  Often I feel like the world is against me, there are many times that are very difficult, whether it be from the tedious tasks in school that I face every week or the hardships I face in my personal life.  But in reality I have it pretty good.  Yes, school is extremely tough at times but I know that is because I chose a very hard major and I realize that in choosing such a difficult career path I have to be able to face and endure tasks that I don't always want to do.  Also, there are many hardships that make life seem really tough at times, but it is important to remember that we are not alone and that everyone has days where life seems a bit more difficult than others.
Last summer a friend of mine, one of the kindest and most giving people I know, was diagnosed with leukemia...  I remember when I received the call giving me the terrible news, I had the biggest pit in my stomach and I immediately broke down, however after the feeling of sadness dissipated, I was left with a feeling of anger.  My initial angry thought was "Why her? Why does someone, who is so sweet and full of kindness, deserve to be stricken with such a terrible illness?"  It wasn't fair.  It took me a while to get over that feeling of anger, I could not wrap my head around the reason my friend had leukemia...  I realized after a while that it doesn't matter who you are or how you act in life, sometimes bad things just happen and we must take from that what we can.  After finding out about my friends cancer I became more aware and thankful for my own health and the health of the rest of my friends and family, it made me realize that life cannot be taken for granted because we never know what is coming around the corner.
And the Earth Did not Devour Him is about a boy who faces the ever pondered question of why bad things really do happen to those who don't deserve them.  His aunt and uncle had fallen ill and then his father and brother, he did not understand that sometimes things are out of our hands.  This story saddend me because not only were good people getting sick but it was because they were forced to work in conditions that were not safe.  They were not only undeserving of illness but I felt that they did not deserve to have to live the way they were.  The life of these migrant workers is sad, they face hardships that I could not imagine entirely, no matter how hard I tried.  I really did enjoy this story though because it brought those feelings I face into another perspective, I understand that although bad things can happen to anyone, no matter how much good karma should be on your side, when I face my own hardships that I do not think I deserve I should just be thankful for the good things I do have in my life.  Also, I especially enjoyed the final paragraph to this story, it was about a boy wishing his life away just to know the ending.  There are quite a few things that I am facing currently that I wish I knew the outcome of, such as what is going to happen in a couple months when I graduate from college and where will I be, literally I have no idea where graduation will take me.  However, as much as I long to know what is going to happen in my near future, I also want to be sure not to wish the time I have now away.  Time is a very precious thing, it is baffling to realize that we really do not know what kind of time we are dealing with, our lives could change drastically any day and there is no way of  predicting what could happen.  I interpreted this particular reading in my own way and took from it that it is important to be thankful for what I have right now in my present life and for the people I love and care about, for anything could happen tomorrow.
The story Cajas de carton by Francisco Jimenez was about him and his family and how they had to move around for work.  It has been made clear to me, from all of the literature in this course, that in order for many of these people to make ends meet they have to constantly search for work and many times move from place to place.  There are many people who choose careers that require them to move around and they are happy with that, but the difference between those people and this family is that the Jimenez family did not choose this life, they are forced to live this way, and they are not happy.  The thought of having to pick up everything and leave at any moment saddens me, I could not imagine coming home from school one day and having my whole house packed up into boxes and having to just leave!  The worst part of this story was when Francisco had finally felt happy and his teacher was going to teach him how to play the trumpet and then he was so excited to tell his family but when he arrived home he was sadly surprised with everything being packed up and it was time for them to move again...