Dream Neighborhood

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A happy neighborhood. Best friends that I can share memories and tell secrets to. A community where we take care of each other. Bonding over good food that we share with each other. Hanging out with kids the same age as me. Creating memories that we can share and look back upon. This is my dream neighborhood. I’ve always wondered what it would be like if I lived in a neighborhood like this. I came up with this dream neighborhood in my head while I was watching a show. In the show, there were these high schoolers who had grown up together in the same neighborhood since they were kids. The entire community was close and watching it made me happy.

My Lovely Family

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Comfort. Love. Happiness. This is how my family makes me feel when I’m around them. I feel comfortable to share all my thoughts and memories with them. They comfort me when I’m sad. They also provide me with food and shelter and always care for me when I’m sick or injured. They give me hugs and say good morning and goodnight every day. They also tell me that they love me. They always make me smile somehow. I love looking at old videos and photos because we get to look back and smile at the memories we had made with each other. I’m thankful for my healthy family and I love them so much.

Home Alone

This what I look like when I’m home alone.

Home alone. Blasting music. Singing at the top of my lungs. Eating a bunch of food. Dancing like a maniac. Sometimes even being a lazy couch potato. This what I usually enjoy doing at home when I’m alone. Don’t lie to yourself, we’ve all done this. Being myself when I’m home alone is what I enjoy the most. I can do whatever I want. Be loud. Say whatever I want. Eat as much as I want. I’m usually a very quiet person but when I’m alone, I’m very loud. Since I’m an introvert, I like to keep this side of me to myself. I enjoy being alone because that’s when I can forget about everything. It gives me time to relax and be away from others. Though sometimes when I’m home alone I freak out whenever I hear a sound. This results in me attempting to make traps like Kevin in the movie “Home Alone” or grabbing something that I can use to defend myself, but usually, no one is there… I still love being home alone even though I occasionally get scared. 

Halloween

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Scares. Candy. Costumes. Pumpkins. All of this is what brings me joy on Halloween. Trick-or-treat. This is what us children would say door to door to receive candy while wearing costumes. Trick-or-treating is fun but when I was a kid I was afraid of it. People would decorate their homes with decorations that would scare me. I still dressed up and went to my friend’s house, but instead of trick-or-treating I would give out candy. Even though I didn’t go trick-or-treating, my brother did. He would bring back candy for the both of us to share. I kind of wish I went trick-or-treating more as a kid but it was really fun the times that I did.

Playing Pretend

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Stuffed animals. Stories. Imagination. These are the things my brother and I used when we played pretend with each other. With our little minds we came up with a show and every time we played together it was a continuation of the show. I was the main character while my brother would be the voices for the stuffed animals. We would even give them unique names like we named a tiger, Tiger. We were very original with our names. I always looked forward to playing with my brother and we made great memories. Playing with my brother is part of my happiest memories and ones that I will never forget.

Broken Hand

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Once my friends and I played a spy game where we all pretended we were spies looking for criminals. We would hide around the house and even use walkie-talkies to communicate with each other. It was a lot of fun. I ran around a lot and hid under a lot of tables. As I went under one of the tables there was a sudden…BAAM. A table had fallen on my hand. Everyone just stood there for a moment looking at me with shock. It took me a while to process what just happened and then I started crying. The parents came rushing over and we iced my hand right away. It was swollen with a bluish, purple color. I wasn’t taken to the doctors until a few days later. After taking x-rays and meeting the doctor we had learned that I had fractured my hand.

I wore a wrap for about three months on my right hand. My dominant hand. I learned to do everything with my left. The feeling was weird but I eventually got used to it. Once my hand began to heal, I needed to do physical therapy. The first time I tried to move it, I cried. The pain and stiffness of my hand felt like I had punched a wall multiple times. It soon completely healed but my fingers had been swollen ever since. The swelling slowly went down but it’s still a bit fat.

Gong Gong

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One day, when I was 5, my mom, brother, and I went to my aunt’s house to celebrate her birthday. My dad didn’t come. We ate a bunch of food and played games. As we were about to leave, my mom got a phone call. The next thing I knew she was rushing out and told my brother and I that we were staying over at our aunt’s house. I asked her why, but all she said was that she’ll come back.

The next day, my mom came back and had told us that our grandpa, or who we called gong gong had died. At first, I was confused, like any child would be, but then I soon came to realize that my gong gong was gone forever. I remember how much my gong gong was suffering. He had cancer and I would always see him lying on the couch and not being able to move. When the funeral came along a week later, it was a tough day for my entire family. My dad was crying. I have never seen him cry before. I started to cry too.

I still remember the times when my gong gong was still alive. He would play and take care of my brother and I. I wish my time was longer with him but I will always remember the memories that we had made. Whenever I think of him it makes me happy and sad at the same time but I know that he is in a better place now.

Remembering My Aunt

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Earlier this year, my aunt had passed away. She had suffered from brain cancer. A few years earlier, she had gotten into a bad car accident and was then diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. Once she was diagnosed she became weaker from all of the chemo. The smile and energy that we would always see were slowly fading away. Soon, she wasn’t able to make her amazing mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving anymore. Even though she was sick, she would still provide us with the best presents. I loved seeing her smile when we opened our gifts on Christmas day. When I found out that she had passed away, it really hit me hard. It made me sad that I won’t be able to hear her contagious laugh, see her bright smile, and feel her energy that always livened up the room. I miss her so much but I know that she is in a better place.

Cat Lady

Photo [cc-0]  by Kessa

Across the street, from my house, there is a small woman who loves cats. We call her Little Woman. There’s a lot of cats that roam around our neighborhood. Many of which I think she owns. They’re always at her house and I usually see them following her wherever she goes for a walk, like chicks following their mother. Sometimes she’ll stop to pet them. That’s why I think she is the owner. Though they’re all over the place. Sometimes I hear them in my backyard. Other times they’re in my driveway. It makes me wonder if they’re stray cats and Little Woman just takes care of them but at the end of the day the cats are always at her house. This is why I assume she owns them. She isn’t a lonely, old, cat lady. She has a husband and a son but I wonder why so many cats are around her. She may just love cats but there are about 20 of them that just roam around. I don’t mind them but I just want to know where they are all coming from. I would ask but I don’t know the lady. Her house is also scary. Even though she is small, she and her family are a bit intimidating but they seem nice. She is always nice to the cats. She is the small cat lady.

Future Plans

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Now, I’m a sophomore in high school. I will be in college in two and a half years. When I leave for college, I plan to live on campus. I don’t know which college/university or what I’m going to major in but in order to grow and experience life, I need to leave. Once I leave, I hope to meet new people and build connections. I will focus on school but also enjoy my life while traveling the world with my friends and experience new things. I will find a job to learn to make money for myself and be more responsible. In the end, my goal is to live a successful and happy life.