They are one of the driving reasons why I wanted to come visit this time around. Let's face it, with both of them in their early 70's, every day is truly a gift from G-d, as they are apt to point out to me. My grandmother had some health problems earlier this year due to a fall she suffered last year, and while she recovered it was very slow, even for someone her age. It was a wake-up call that I need to enjoy them while I have them here. So today was set aside to spend the day with them. I got there around midday and just hung out with them and my uncle, talking about everything and anything, just putting them up to date in my life, and getting up to date in theirs. The weather was hot with sporadic and sudden rains, but since they have a very lush backyard, the temperature was actually nice. At around one, I went down to the cemetery by their house to visit my Father.
Whoever said that time heals wounds did not tell the whole story. As I stood at the foot of my Father's grave I lost it, big time, like I didn't loose it at his funeral or burial. It must have been a sight: a lone Jew standing in a sea of mottled-white crosses crying like a little child. The truth is I miss him terribly; I've spent the last 13 years of my life, the most turbulent, confusing, strange, amazing and important years of my life without my Father physically around, and it has taken a toll on me, one I rarely let see, but one that is there nonetheless. But it was good to visit his grave; though I know he's beyond physical locations, that is the nexus of his connection to this world. In Judaism we believe that praying at the tomb of a tzaddik (a righteous person) is beneficial since there is a stronger connection between earth and heaven. Though he wasn't Jewish, it was my Father who started me on the road that would eventually lead me to Judaism, the one who taught me to go beyond blind faith into an actual relationship with G-d, the one who taught me to use my mind in the pursuit of knowing G-d as best as I could. My Father was my tzaddik.
I went back and just spent time at my grandparents, enjoying their company. I even played some video games with my uncle for a while. Then, at around 6:00 pm I left to meet up with Josue at Braulio's store, which I got to see today. He's got a great location with excellent space, but he needs to take full advantage of it (comments on the store will come later on). Since the idea was just to hang out with my friends, I sat down and played a couple of games of Magic: The Gathering, a game I haven't played--I kid you not--for about 6 or 7 years now. Of course I lost each and every game, but I did get to spend some time with my friend. Later on I joined the Halo crowd, but I just can't get into that game, nor can I learn how to operate the control properly; I always end up shooting at a wall, off in a corner somewhere, while everyone just comes to take potshots at defenseless old me. So we switched to Street Fighter, and while I, again, lost almost every match, that one I actually enjoy playing; Street Fighter (along with Samurai Shodown II) is my favorite video game ever.
I called it a day "early" (10:00 pm) and headed back home to my Mom's, stopping at the supermarket to get some actual food I can eat. My Mom was already sleeping by the time I got to the house, so here I am, typing away, having dinner very late at night. I'm tired, and tomorrow I want to get an early start (I'm going to get together with Josue in his capacity as Graphic Designer for Highmoon Media Productions), so I'm going to skip the observations about Puerto Rico for today so I can get some sleep.
I will leave you with this, though. With gas prices so high, it seems Puerto Rico is turning into Italy, so many vespas did I see on the roads today, zipping by in between moving traffic, assuming their little size means they have immunity to the laws of the road. Would it be fair for me to then become more like a Roman driver, and assume they are just moving targets for which I get points?
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