Tania Luna: How a penny made me feel like a millionaire

Translator: Entela Bodinaku Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

I'm five years old, and I am very proud.

Une jam 5 vjec, dhe jam shume krenare.

My father has just built the best outhouse

Im ate sapo ka ndertuar nje banjo jashte

in our little village in Ukraine.

me e mira ne fshatin tone te vogel ne Ukraine.

Inside, it's a smelly, gaping hole in the ground,

Brenda, nuk eshte vecse nje grope ne toke qe mban ere te keqe,

but outside, it's pearly white formica

por jashte, eshte laminat ne ngjyre te bardhe

and it literally gleams in the sun.

dhe shkelqen ne diell.

This makes me feel so proud, so important,

Kjo me ben te ndjehem aq krenare dhe e rendesishme

that I appoint myself the leader of my little group of friends

sa qe vetezgjidhem udheheqese e grupit te vogel te shokeve te mi

and I devise missions for us.

dhe caktoj misione per grupin.

So we prowl from house to house

Keshtu, ne sillemi verdalle nga nje shtepi ne tjetren

looking for flies captured in spider webs

per te gjetur miza qe kane ngecur ne rrjetat e merimangave

and we set them free.

dhe i clirojme.

Four years earlier, when I was one,

Kater vjet me pare, kur isha nje vjec,

after the Chernobyl accident,

pas aksidentit te Chernobilit,

the rain came down black,

binte shi i zi,

and my sister's hair fell out in clumps,

dhe floket e motres time rane tufa tufa,

and I spent nine months in the hospital.

une kalova 9 muaj ne spital.

There were no visitors allowed,

Nuk lejoheshin vizitore,

so my mother bribed a hospital worker.

keshtu qe ime me i dha para nje punonjesi spitali.

She acquired a nurse's uniform,

Ajo gjeti nje uniforme infermiereje,

and she snuck in every night to sit by my side.

dhe futej cdo nate ne spital qe te rrinte prane meje.

Five years later, an unexpected silver lining.

Pese vjet me vone, nje rreze drite e papritur.

Thanks to Chernobyl, we get asylum in the U.S.

Fale Chernobilit, ne fitojme azilin ne Shtetet e Bashkuara.

I am six years old, and I don't cry when we leave home

Jam gjashte vjec, dhe nuk qaj kur largohemi nga shtepia

and we come to America,

dhe shkojme ne Amerike,

because I expect it to be a place filled with rare

sepse pres qe te jete nje vend me

and wonderful things like bananas and chocolate

gjera te rralla dhe te mrekullueshme si banane dhe cokollata

and Bazooka bubble gum,

dhe camcakez Bazooka,

Bazooka bubble gum with the little cartoon wrappers inside,

Camcakez Bazooka me letra te vogla filmash vizatimore brenda,

Bazooka that we'd get once a year in Ukraine

Bazooka qe ne mund te hanim vetem nje here ne vit ne Ukraine,

and we'd have to chew one piece for an entire week.

dhe qe nje cope na shkonte nje jave.

So the first day we get to New York,

Keshtu qe diten e pare qe mberrijme ne New York,

my grandmother and I find a penny

une dhe gjyshja gjejme nje monedhe 1 cent

in the floor of the homeless shelter that my family's staying in.

ne dyshemene e qendres per te pastrehe ku po rri familja ime.

Only, we don't know that it's a homeless shelter.

Vetem se ne nuk e dime qe ajo eshte qender per te pastrehet.

We think that it's a hotel, a hotel with lots of rats.

Ne mendojme qe eshte hotel, hotel me shume minj.

So we find this penny kind of fossilized in the floor,

Keshtu, ne gjejme kete monedhe paksa te fosilizuar ne dysheme,

and we think that a very wealthy man must have left it there

dhe mendojme qe nje njeri shume i pasur do ta kete lene atje

because regular people don't just lose money.

sepse njerezit e zakonshem nuk humbasin leke.

And I hold this penny in the palm of my hand,

Dhe une e mbaj kete monedhe ne dore,

and it's sticky and rusty,

qe eshte e ndryshkur dhe ngjitese,

but it feels like I'm holding a fortune.

por ndjehem sikur po mbaj nje thesar.

I decide that I'm going to get my very own piece

Keshtu vendos qe te blej nje cope

camcakezi Bazooka per veten time.

of Bazooka bubble gum.

And in that moment, I feel like a millionaire.

Dhe ne ate moment, ndjehem si milionere.

About a year later, I get to feel that way again

Rreth nje vit me vone, me ndodh te ndjehem perseri keshtu

kur gjejme nje qese plot me kukulla pellushi te plehrat,

when we find a bag full of stuffed animals in the trash,

and suddenly I have more toys

dhe papritmas une kam me shume lodra

than I've ever had in my whole life.

sec kam pasur ne gjithe jeten time.

And again, I get that feeling when we get a knock

Dhe perseri ndjehem keshtu, kur degjojme nje trokitje

on the door of our apartment in Brooklyn,

ne deren e apartamentit tone ne Brooklin,

and my sister and I find a deliveryman

dhe aty eshte nje shperndares picash

with a box of pizza that we didn't order.

me nje kuti pice qe nuk e kishim porositur.

So we take the pizza, our very first pizza,

Keshtu ne e marrim picen, picen tone te pare,

and we devour slice after slice

dhe i kullufisim te gjitha copat

as the deliveryman stands there and stares at us from the doorway.

nderkohe qe shperndaresi i picave eshte akoma te dera dhe na shikon.

And he tells us to pay, but we don't speak English.

Ai na kerkon qe te paguajme, por ne nuk flasim anglisht.

My mother comes out, and he asks her for money,

Ime me vjen te dera, dhe ai ia kerkon asaj leket,

but she doesn't have enough.

por ajo nuk ka mjaftueshem.

She walks 50 blocks to and from work every day

Ajo kalon 50 rruge cdo dite per te shkuar ne pune

just to avoid spending money on bus fare.

vetem qe te mos harxhoje leke per autobusin.

Then our neighbor pops her head in,

Ne ate moment afrohet komshija jone,

and she turns red with rage when she realizes

dhe behet e kuqe flake nga zemerimi kur kupton

that those immigrants from downstairs

qe ata emigrantet e katit poshte

have somehow gotten their hands on her pizza.

kane shtire ne dore picen e saj.

Everyone's upset.

Te gjithe jane te zemeruar,

But the pizza is delicious.

Por pica eshte shume e mire.

It doesn't hit me until years later just how little we had.

E kam kuptuar disa vite me vone se sa pak kishim.

On our 10 year anniversary of being in the U.S.,

Me rastin e 10- vjetorit te ardhjes ne Shtetet e Bashkuara,

we decided to celebrate by reserving a room

vendosem te festonim duke zene nje dhome

at the hotel that we first stayed in when we got to the U.S.

ne hotelin ku kishim ndenjtur kur erdhem ne fillim ne Shtetet e Bashkuara.

The man at the front desk laughs, and he says,

Burri qe ishte tek banaku qesh dhe thote,

"You can't reserve a room here. This is a homeless shelter."

Nuk mund te zini dhome ketu, kjo eshte qender per te pastrehet.

And we were shocked.

Dhe ne u shokuam.

My husband Brian was also homeless as a kid.

Bashkeshorti im Brajan ka qene gjithashtu i pastrehe kur ishte femije.

His family lost everything, and at age 11,

Familja e tij humbi gjithcka, dhe ne moshen 11 vjecare,

he had to live in motels with his dad,

ai duhet te jetonte ne motele me te jatin,

motels that would round up all of their food

motele qe ua merrnin te gjithe ushqimet

and keep it hostage until they were able to pay the bill.

dhe ua mbanin deri sa te ishin ne gjendje te paguanin faturen.

And one time, when he finally got his box

Dhe nje here, kur me ne fund ia kthyen kutine e tij

of Frosted Flakes back, it was crawling with roaches.

me Frosted Flakes, ajo ishte mbushur me buburreca.

But he did have one thing.

Por ai kishte nje gje.

He had this shoebox that he carried with him everywhere

Ai kishte nje kuti kepucesh qe e merrte me vete kudo

containing nine comic books,

qe kishte nente libra komike.

two G.I. Joes painted to look like Spider-Man

dy ushtare prej lodre te pikturuar si Njeriu- merimange

and five Gobots. And this was his treasure.

dhe pese robote. Dhe keto ishin thesari i tij.

This was his own assembly of heroes

Kjo ishte armata e tij e herojve

that kept him from drugs and gangs

qe e mbajti larg nga droga dhe bandat

and from giving up on his dreams.

dhe nuk e la te hiqte dore nga endrrat e tij.

I'm going to tell you about one more

Do t'ju tregoj dhe per nje tjeter

formerly homeless member of our family.

anetar te familjes sone qe ka qene i pastrehe.

This is Scarlett.

Kjo eshte Skarlet.

Once upon a time, Scarlet was used as bait in dog fights.

Me pare, Skarlet perdorej si karrem ne luftimet me qen.

She was tied up and thrown into the ring

Ajo lidhej dhe leshohej ne ring

for other dogs to attack so they'd get more aggressive before the fight.

qe te sulmohej nga qente e tjere ne menyre qe te beheshin me agresive perpara luftimit.

And now, these days, she eats organic food

Ndersa tani, ajo ha ushqim organik

and she sleeps on an orthopedic bed with her name on it,

dhe fle ne nje krevat ortopedik qe ka emrin e vet te shkruar mbi te,

but when we pour water for her in her bowl,

por kur i japim uje per te pire,

she still looks up and she wags her tail in gratitude.

ajo prape na shikon dhe tund bishtin ne shenje mirenjohje.

Sometimes Brian and I walk through the park with Scarlett,

Nganjehere, une dhe Brajan shetisim ne park me Skarlet,

and she rolls through the grass,

dhe ajo shtrihet e rrotullohet ne bar,

and we just look at her

dhe ne e shikojme

and then we look at each other

dhe me pas shikojme njere tjetrin

and we feel gratitude.

dhe ndjejme mirenjohje.

We forget about all of our new middle-class frustrations

Harrojme te gjitha problemet e reja te klases se mesme,

and disappointments,

dhe zhgenjimet,

and we feel like millionaires.

dhe ndjehemi si milionere.

Thank you.

Faleminderit.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)