Lifestyle transformation

Hello again!
Today I'm going to write about the first departure of my life...
As you already know, I was born at South Africa. My parents didn't have a lot of money when I was born, but they turned up to do quite well at the first years of they life as a couple. So my brother, sister and I had a quite nice and comfortable childhood at South Africa. Nice clothes, nice houses, nice pool, nice rooms, nice schools... Of course I don't remember all of those things, but the photos show me how good it use to look like. But by those days, at South Africa, it was quite easy for a "white couple" to succeed. Unhappily we all know that by those years the country went through the apartheid... Of course I didn't know what it was by that time, because I was only six when I left South Africa. And I don't even remember what excuse my parents gave us for leaving our country. But suddenly we were packing our cases to go to live to Portugal. Portugal was the right place because it was where my dads family was and my mothers mum also. So, at January, 1993, just after the New Year, my mum got in a plane with 3 kids and went straight to Portugal. My dad only went 2 months after, because he had to stay to sell everything we had. They had to do everything quite fast, because of our ages... My brother and I had to go to school, so we had to come by that time to start school here in Portugal. So we weren't at South Africa when Nelson Mandela was released from prison.
So here are the things I remember from that "adventure":
I remember the time we were packing to leave... One day, mum arrived home crying. I asked what happened and she said "Socks (our white dog)  went to heaven". I asked why and she said that he couldn't go to Portugal with us, because Snoopy was going and we could only take one.
Dad gave me a porcelain doll and mum gave me another one so the night before we were leaving I told mum I was going to take both of the dolls on the plain with me. She said no... "No Jaky, if they fall they will break so pack them in the bags" I don't remember how I convinced mum, because it's not something easy to do but the truth is I remember taking one of the dolls on the plane with me.
When we were at the airport all the family was there... My cousins and my mums 3 brothers and sisters in law. There was a lot of confusion and I know I didn't realize how serious was our lifestyle transformation. I knew my brother, my sister and I were going to travel with mum, and dad would meet us 3 months after at his family's  house, my grandparents. But I didn't realize how important and decisive this was.
We said goodbye to everybody, some of my aunts cried... I don't remember dad at the airport, but I was only six years old... But i do remember walking a lot until the plain. My mother was alone with 3 kids. She was 26 by that time... Alone with 3 kids walking to her new future... A totally different country, with different language and different people.