Don’t be afraid to try again
Everyone goes south
Every now and then
You’ve done it why can’t someone else?
You should know by now
You’ve been there yourself
-Billy Joel on The Stranger
After an exhausting and yet quite worthwhile week of finals, I’m now able to talk about one trip I took down memory lane about a week ago when I went over to my brother’s place to watch TNA wrestling. After we had watched the wrestling show, I wondered about what I had just watched and I was happy I was able to watch some wrestling with my brother. Of course, back un the day my brother and I would watch every Monday on TNT with WCW coming on at 5 PM and WWE would come on at 9 PM which was actually kind of cool because we wouldn’t be like the people on the East Coast flipping back and forth between both shows. We were able to be amused and entertained by both shows at different times and I was also able to watch it with some buddies from my apartments when they weren’t doing other things. Now, you may ask what does this have to do with memory lane? Well, after my brother and I were through with watching wrestling I brought up the fact that our dog Paloma had not gone on her second walk of the day and I should take her. So, my brother being tired and exhausted from having his daughter with him most of the day, I decided to take Paloma myself and I was just going to take her around the apartments that they lived at at first. But, I remembered that our old apartments weren’t that far away and at most it was a ten minute walk there. So, I first went towards my old Elementary school Vargas and I passed the stop sign my mom would leave me at when I was younger. She would leave me at the stop sign and she would go to work. I couldn’t think much about the present and what I had to do within the next week because I was thinking about all the memories I had when I was younger. I started taking the walk that I would take to school by going straight then I went right on this small street. I remember thinking about all the stupid shit my friends and I would talk about when we were walking on that sidewalk. We would talk about school, girls, Dragon Ball, wrestling, and so much more. I passed all the houses thinking how much they must have changed since I last saw them which was about 8 years ago almost. I passed them thinking were the same people still living there? I remember there used to be this girl in my fourth grade class who would live really close by and I would always see her till about my first year of high school and I always thought she was actually kind of attractive. I passed this one house that had two stories wondering how much had happened since I had last seen it. The house was barely being completed when I was still in fifth grade and that was when people started moving into it. I thought with that nice of a house, I wonder how nice they must have it with a neighborhood that isn’t that bad off? I continued my walk just being in awe of what was before me. I feel I’m a very nostalgic person and when I took that walk I felt happy and upbeat because this is the place where I was raised. If it hadn’t been for that time and place, I wouldn’t have had some of the values I have today. Once I got closer to my old apartments I felt chills up my spine and then I saw this little girl that stated to me, “your dog is on the street.”For a split second I thought Paloma really was on the street but I was hanging onto her pretty good because I wanted her to be there too with me. I crossed the street and I just kept walking down the sidewalk towards my apartments and once I passed the managers office I remembered when my dad’s compadre and his son were asleep on the grass right next to the managers and I just smiled for a minute thinking about that. I kept walking on the side where I didn’t live before and I kept getting closer to my old apartment. I passed the entrance to the second half of the apartments and on that side my friends Ralph and Stephen were the ones who used to occupy a two story apartment with there mom and there brothers and sister. I remembered when we were still young and stupid and myself,Stephen, and my other friend Adrian were at Stephen’s house talking about summer school and the funny stuff that would go on there. Memories were just creeping up in my head as I passed the second apartment that was used as our home for about 6 months or so in 2002 and I remembered when we were first moving into that apartment we locked ourselves out and we decided we were going to go to Carl’s JR. with time to kill till my brother had gotten home from work. We waited for my brother to get home that day and I felt relieved because I wanted to see what this place looked like. I don’t have a lot of memories in that apartment because we stayed for only a little bit there but I do remember coming home during the summer and playing Smackdown 2 with my friend Monty and my other friend Adrian. We would have 40 minute matches that would include all three of us and what was just fun how long these things would go until one of us won. Monty would win sometimes and I would win sometimes and Adrian would win as well. Good times I must say indeed! I then saw a gentleman who was getting out of his car near one of the apartments and I didn’t want him to see my dog because they don’t allow pets in the apartments. I waited until he had gotten the food he had in his car until I could bring Paloma along and then I started passing by one of my friends old apartments who went by the name of Tony Olmos. I passed by the apartment thinking about the many times I would go by his house and play some N64. Usually we would play Goldeneye, racing car games, WCW Revenge, and a whole bunch of other games. What I remember most was how nice his family used to be and they were also very friendly every time I went over. They would always be very courteous and since we were all linked almost we would talk about what was going on with our families and such. I then passed by old room at apartment number 29 and I just remember everything that has changed since I have been in that room. I was last in Eighth grade when I was in that room and all the memories I have are priceless. I remember long summer nights and other times when my brother and I would stay in that room just chilling. I remember I would listen to the radio during the weekday and I would watch movies like crazy in that room during my later years. I also remember when my friend and my brother would have sleepovers and we would just laugh about some stupid stuff that was both hilarious and immature. Our friend, Victor, always would make the best company when he would sleep over with us because he was respectful and he had this coolness factor to him every time he would come over. One of my most memorable days there was when September 11th happened and I remember waking up to this shock and disbelief that my country had been attacked. My brother turned on the TV and he was getting ready for school while I was barely waking up. I was surprised to see the rest of my family kind of dumbfounded because they didn’t know what to think or say. I also remember a few instances where in that apartment we would celebrate Christmas and my best memory of Christmas there was when our neighbors, our two uncles came over, and we just had everybody there just happy and I just remember about just being young not having to worry about anything at that time. Once I passed my old apartment I just felt very emotional because I know I can never bring back all the good times I had there because you only live once and I made the best of it. I did everything I wanted to in that apartment from wrestling in our living room, being able to gather in our kitchen to eat dinner, having my “party” for my birthday in my living room, and also having one of my younger cousins’ birthday party in that apartment. I remember that day we had my uncle and his wife celebrating their daughter’s birthday and I wonder now how happy they must have been for their daughter because she was born here and they were born over in Mexico. So many memories, I thought as I roamed on the outskirts of the apartments. The little kid inside came out for a little bit as Paloma and I passed by some of the spots that we would play tag. Tag was a stupid little game that we would play occasionally and it was fun because we would always make it so that the other team would have ten minutes to get back to the deck near our apartments. We would have simple hiding spots but the strategy was to see what the most common spot was. There was the laundry room on the other side of the apartments, near the bushes, the garbage totes, under the stairs near some apartments. Most of the time, the most difficult part was to see how long it would take for the opposing team to make it back to the basedeck. You could say that the stranger came out inside me because I had never actually even thought of going back to my old apartments but when I did I felt it was worth it even more. I remember when my parents bought me a bike and we brought it with us. We went to Smart and Final with it and it was rejoicing to have my family buy me something that was worthwhile. When I started walking down the little hill that cars go down on I just remember the guys and myself having bike races on there and that’s where we would start and whoever would end up back there first after taking a lap would win. Memories I just thought to myself as I kept walking down the hill. I took a peak inside the small boiler room and I remember my friend used to live near there so I just remember the stairs he would take with his mom. I also remember when I kept getting closer to the exit of the apartments that I would always take this small walk to get to the local liquor store in Stop and Go. Stop and Go was pretty amazing because I always remember seeing the arcade there of Mortal Kombat and everybody would want to play it. My best memory there was when my mom bought me some chips for a field trip that I was going to take and the local clerk asked my mom if it was my birthday and she said yes for some odd reason. I remember buying a lot of fake caps for toy guns there because that was the closest place to buy them so whenever I bought them I was excited to pull the trigger. During my exit, I felt proud that I had taken the trip to my old apartments because I felt I had to go back someday to see what it was like and just to reminisce about what it was like before I matured and I became who I am today. If it hadn’t been for living in that apartment, I wouldn’t have learned about respecting people, the connection I began to have with my brother, the hardships my mom would have to make, my dad being strange yet lovable, and my real friends bickering among themselves and with me. I can say that having that experience can only be better and enchanting. After getting back to my brother, I felt happier about what my life had given me at that point in my life and I told my brother about it and he even cracked a small smile when he heard that. I can say that if you are reading this, go back to some old places that you lived before and see how they have changed, for better or for worse, it will be a burden off your shoulders. Good night everyone, and here’s one of the best songs ever:
Just Another Day... 