Somewhere In My Memory

Somewhere in my memory there is a place that is full of joy and no worries are to be found. This can be several places to many for me it is San Juan, Puerto Rico. The way that the sand feels under my feet, the warm breeze that blows past me, the air that you can only get from the islands. Another place that can be full of happiness and no worries is when I am with my Grandma who lives thousands of miles away. The place that she lives is secluded from the rest of the world, no internet, no TV, nothing. She lives on a farm (that is no longer active). My Dad grew up on that farm too, tending to it and keeping watch.

My grandma is a wonderful lady, she cares about what my brother and I do. If we could not make it up to see her Dad told her why:

“He has to work” “He has a school thing”

Every single time she would understand and we made it a point to go up next time (now I know that makes me sound like a horrible human, not taking time out of my busy schedule to see her, and I am not thrilled that happened, however it happened twice that I can think of, and I promised to make it to the next time and I always did. I made sure that I would go and see her every chance that I could. Mom and Dad were saying “It’s ok, you went up every time you could. You never made it because, you were in jail, or didn’t want too, we’ll catch you next time”)

I remember growing up and going and seeing her every Thanksgiving. I would always look forward to that time of year. I was too young to understand dates but I knew that thanksgiving break was the time that we would pack up the car and go and see her. I hated the drives to and especially from her house. It was worth it every single time.

One time I remember Dad was not able to make it, he had to take care of an emergency for work. My brother and I were sad that we could not make it up. Mom said “I know the way, pack it up. Let’s go!” and off we went.

One thing that I always looked forward too was seeing my Aunt and Uncle when we got up here (they in my opinion are the greatest aunt and uncle out there, silly, they care, and my aunt is a lot like my Dad in terms of his sense of humor. Something that him and I have in common, laughing at dumb jokes that we make up on the spot.) I remember being up here and I would always look forward to seeing them. They would tell us stories of work, that I would be interested in. I remember sitting down with an old Windows XP laptop and playing the Sims 4 Pets. My aunt sat down and watched me play, intrigued by the way that these small computer figures were acting.

When we would always come up the first thing that we would see was Grandma sitting in her spot, napping, reading, doing a puzzle, or listening to Gunsmoke/Johnny Dollar on the radio (she had a Sirius XM radio). We would hug her and visit with her. She would hand us a shopping list and off Mom and Dad would go to get the snacks that she knew that we loved. Come back and plan our time together. We would play bored games, tell stories, just sit and visit and relax from the aftermath of the travels. Next thing that I knew back in the car (nearly crying sometimes, because I didn’t want to leave. I want to stay here, in the peace and quiet and not be near the chaos of home. Ohh but the dogs are home…Yeah should go be with them.)

I loved going up and seeing her. As I got older, I helped with dinner (I’ve been deemed the role of Potato Master from my Aunt) and we stopped coming up on Thanksgiving break. A few times we were up here for a long weekend (and I think Christmas break at one point, though I don’t think we spent Christmas up here).

I love my Grandma, Aunt and Uncle. They are apart of my favorite group to be with, there was always a good sense of humor that was with us, memories that come with it too. I have many stories to tell (and if that is something of interest I can compile a list and one post will be full of stories from Me, Mom, Dad, and my brother).

I love coming up here and breaking away from the chaos of school, I will always come up when I can.