Boy am I glad it's finally put together. I still have some finishing touches on the walls to add, such as decor, but all in all, it's usable now!
I will take pictures in the morning and post tomorrow.
The little guy and I are having so much fun learning in here.
In the meantime I wanted to share a short story I wrote several years ago. I find it is my duty to let my children and their children know where I came from and how far we've come as a family so I have written snippets of my life in short story form. Some of the names have been changed for privacy purposes. These are my memories of my childhood.
They belong to no one else but me.
Enjoy!
***********************************************************
Memories
of Me
A Collection of
Short Stories
By Patricia Martinez
OREOS
My cousin was
wearing the necklace again. It seemed that whenever she wore it, it was when I
was the hungriest. Or maybe it was the other way around. All I knew was that the small, bite-size, Oreo
cookie necklace looked yummy. I wanted to yank it off her neck and dunk it into
a cool, glass of milk, then stuff it in my mouth, savoring its creamy,
chocolaty, goodness. “That will never happen,” I thought to myself. First of
all, our food stamps had already run out. It was the middle of the month and
that meant we had very few things to eat. We certainly didn’t have cold milk.
We had no milk. Well, I lied, we did have milk-dry, powdered milk, that my
brother and I hated. You know the kind the government welfare gives to the poor?
That kind. It was watered down and grainy. Certainly not the type to dunk your Oreos in.
I hated that I
couldn’t just go down the street to the corner store and buy Oreos. And that is
why Oreos were on my when-I-grow-up list. You know, the list we all make as
kids. You come up with all kinds of wishes and promise yourself you are going
to do things different than your parents. Oh, yes, my list wasn’t long. But it
was specific.
My little brother
and I used to sit up on the tall, mesquite, tree and look at cars passing by
below. We’d point to our favorites; “Now that’s the kind of car I’m gonna have
when I grow up, a Mazda RX-7.” My brother would take his turn. Then me. Back
and forth we went. “When I grow up, you know what? I’m gonna live in a big
house with a real living room set and there’s going to be a Mom and a Dad and
lots of food to eat. I’ll be able to go to the store and get Oreos,” I
mused. “Me too,” my brother agreed.
I stand in the
middle of the snack aisle. I look up and down the shelves not quite sure of
what I’m craving today. “Hmmm..maybe I’ll take the Chips Ahoy!” I mutter to no
one in particular. Then I see a red sign-Oreos two for $5. What a deal! I get
them and put them into my basket.
I drive up to my
house, park the car in the garage and walk inside. I set the Oreos on the
kitchen counter. The kids have been home for a couple of hours already. They
sit on the table doing homework, their father by their side. “What do you have
there?” he asks. I hold up the package. Everyone screams with glee! “Break out the milk,” I
suggest. We always seem to have milk. My husband makes sure of that. He grabs a
glass for me and I set the opened package in the middle of the table. Smiles
all around. The kids begin to tell me about their day as I dunk a chocolatey Oreo
in my tall glass of milk. I smile as I remember. I no longer crave the
necklace.
COPYRIGHT
2013 a.Patricia Martinez
xoxo
Patty
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