Free «Karen Castro: Wild Rose» Essay Sample

Confucius said “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it” referring to beauty as a conceptual measure of a person’s soul (Duthel 11). If I was to describe a person by the name of the flower, I would choose the wild rose for Miss Karen Castro, who appears to me as a pure and full of passion, just like a fiery rose with crystal dews on her petal, bathed in the early hours of the morning sun. Castro has a pair of big bright eyes from, which reflect the essence of her beauty. A hope for better future lights up her lips with a smile, despise the difficult journey she has to take, believing that the dawn is just behind the darkness.

Karen Castro was born in San Francisco, California in 19 and came from an immigration family from El Salvador. This beautiful country is famous for its picturesque sceneries, ordained by volcanoes and beaches. Castro goes back to El Salvador every four years. Her impressions of her motherland are stated in her own words: “No matter how poor or rich you are, you have a maid in your house.”

In order to perceive what Karen went through in the last few decades, one has to learn the twisted plot of the tragic childhood story, which reveals the strength of a woman Karen has become. It all started with a very sweet lady with a mighty heart, Mrs. Castro, giving birth to Karen, twin boys, and another daughter. Nonetheless, her father was the source of all the trouble in her family. Childhood is the happiest time of a life. But this time it was not happy for Karen, when she was a little girl. Castro’s parents had been quarreling on every matter, and sooner or after they had started to fight. Karen has often observed her father beat her mother. These events left a terrible scar in her scared and helpless heart In addition to domestic and sexual abuse Karen had experienced at home, she had been a witness of a terrorist assault. Those were the dark times for Castro, which would never end, as she had thought. She has decided not to tell the details about her abuse to her mother in order to protect her from another shock. Karen had no one to go to, or to talk to about it, but never stopped praying for a better outcome. At that time, Castro was so young and innocent that she didn’t realized how these bad memories would puzzle her for long time.

However, there finally came the silence after the storm, and Karen’s horrid black stripe in the life has got changed by a white one. She met a wonderful guy, named Ricky, who has become her savior and messiah. She first met him when they were 11 years old and built up a friendship. Karen and Ricky had gotten into a relationship when they were 16. For once in her life, Castro has been happy finally, as she had someone, who shared all her feelings. She refers to him in such words: “He is the man that I love and when he is around me, I feel safe.” As their relationship grew, Karen started to trust Ricky enormously. She felt a need to reveal her terrible skeletons in the wardrobe from her past and tell Ricky about her family. In his turn, Ricky has showed Castro support and care. He protected her secret and loved her for honesty even more than before. “He was the first person that I told about my dad,” reveals Castro about her confessions regarding her abuse at home.

A few happy years had passed in a wonderful harmony of Karen’s and Ricky’s symbiosis. One day, Ricky has taken a decision on his own: he wanted to travel in a search for a better life. Even though Castro loved him enormously, she understood his need to fulfill his purpose, and let him go chase after his dream. Karen knew she was going to miss him and feel empty when he would be somewhere else, not by her side. After Ricky’s departure Karen found out that she was gifted with the opportunity to bring another person to life.

Fortunately, Ricky’s parents loved Karen deeply and invited her to live with them, so they could help her with upbringing the child. While leaving with Ricky’s parents, she had understood that she is in a wonderful, caring family, which adores her and her child, and is ready to protect them no matter what. Castro received lots of encourages from them. Castro stated, “They were always saying: Castro you can, you can do it, and you can do everything you want to” and they helped me to go through what I had experienced.” Now Castro lives with her little angel, her wonderful daughter, Alexia Marquez.

The story of Karen Castro reminds me of a tender fiery-red rose blooming, on a vast land, in nature baptized, bath, and dense, illuminating its’ pure beauty, yet holds the thorns ready for protection. The wind whispers around her, a gentle wind passing her blessing to everyone passed her. She always tries to live life with a smile on her face and influence everyone around her, giving them the hope for their lives. As in her poem Narrow Way, Anne Bronte writes: “…But he, who dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose” (459).