There is a pall over my family today since today would have been my father’s 60th birthday. My mother has been understandably under the weather since she cared for him very much regardless of whatever disagreements and spats they had. My brothers will be all day with her since I left home early to run some errands around NYU and to go to the dentist’s office in Sunnyside. I feel guilty leaving them alone with her as well as leaving her on a day where she feels very vulnerable. I’m really hoping they will all be okay in my absence.
After I finish at NYU and get a bite to eat I’ll probably go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. One of my brothers gave me the idea of lighting a candle in father’s memory. I hope to do that and perhaps attend the noon mass. I’m not too sure if time and my own fragile emotions will allow me.
Two days ago we celebrated the Fourth of July at home. Mom had been feeing a little ill so we could not have barbecue on the fire escape. Nor was going to Flushing Meadows Park available option since it was raining so hard throughput the day. For me the Fourth of July is a day in which I truly appreciate the positive attributes of the United States and I feel eternally grateful for having the opportunity to be born and raised in this country. Yet more than anything else I appreciated the sacrifice my dad went through in trying to raise a family in the U.S. rather than his native Colombia. He was living a very comfortable life over there- high paying job, lots of friends, his family close by. For him, however, it was not enough and he thought about his future children above anything else. So he took the risk, came to the U.S. in the early 70s, and watched his dream prosper. Sadly, he didn’t live to so some of the accomplishments of my brothers and me. Still, he planted the seeds of prosperity for future generations to come. That is the greatest gift he left behind.
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