A trip to North Carolina

(The Events that are about to take place have happened and they are all facts. The only thing is the dates may not be correct, but around the same time period.)

[ The inspiration for this story, is from reading a book called “The Things They Carried.” In this book there is a chapter that explains how the main character (Author: Tim O’brien) feels about death. And, he explains that Death makes him think more about the world, and when he tells his story in the chapter’s Good Form and In the field. After, having a near death experience back to back, that I can’t never forget, makes me cherish life more. Not, only did I almost drown but I live to tell this story another day. ]

May 26th 2008

I was eight years old at the time.  About 1 or 2 weeks my great grandmother had passed away and everyone was still mourning her passing. This was a hard time for everyone and no one was the same for awhile. My family was usually filled with laughter, there weren’t many arguments lately. And the little kids (my siblings and I) hardly got yelled at for breaking something, or drawing on the wall. Which was pretty occasional.

May 27th 2009

During a day at school, my siblings and I returned home to find a few relatives in our home. They were closely related to my great grandmother. They greeted us and we greeted them. They said the usual when we saw them, such as “You’ve gotten so big since the last time I saw you, or “How old are you now”, even “I remember when I was changing your diapers.” And I would sit there and listen like I cared, which I really didn’t. But, the thing that was weird is that my mother allowed strangers to me at the time change my diaper, like what if they touched me in inappropriate ways. . . But, that’s besides the point. My relatives (Cousins) decided to invite my siblings and I to a upcoming family reunion (I think they felt that we were in ‘pain’ at the time) in July. In the beginning of the month, they gave us a date, a time, and the place.

May 29th 2009

    It’s been two days since we got the news of the upcoming Family Reunion and my Mom and my Grand Ma were still speculating whether they should let us go or not because they have really never let all of the kids go away at once, and they were a little afraid because of that. They were okay with us going away to another relative’s house for the weekend, but we were going out of state and we were going to be surrounded by strangers basically. After, my Mom and my Grandma talked about it for awhile they decided on the decision to let us go to the Family Reunion. They said it would be a good experience for us. They said we need to meet our family and need to go out and have a good time, instead of being in the house during the summer.

June 13th 2009

This was the last day of school and I decided to tell all my friends about my upcoming events for the summer. I do not know if they were as excited for me going away for the summer as I was, but they all said they hope that I would have a good time. I was so excited for the reunion that I decided to go straight home after school, although I knew that the reunion was probably a month away.

June 20th 2009

It’s been a week since school ended and I could honestly say that I was anticipating all the things that I would be doing at the reunion more and more as the days went by. The days went by even slower because, for one I wasn’t in school and I was in the house because of the heat. I was just thinking about going swimming, meeting new people, and the big banquet at the end of the reunion. I was really looking forward towards the swimming although I didn’t know how to swim.

June 25th 2009

It was time for us to start going shopping for clothes, shoes, and accessories to take with us on the trip. One thing I remember is when we bought wash clothes and tooth paste my mother just grabbed a hand full, without looking at the colors. And, when we got back to the house, my mother started passing out the wash clothes. When it was my turn to get a wash cloth I had to get the last one which was a dark pink, which everyone made fun of me for. But, oh well we were  couple days closer to the big day.

July 11th 2009

It’s two days before we head down to North Carolina for the family reunion. We were packing bags, and are really excited for the next week. We were going to have a great time. But, I had butterflies in my stomach. I think I was starting to get nervous about leaving for awhile, and also going to an unfamiliar place.

July 12th 2009

Today is the day, My siblings and  go to our relatives house, to get ready to head down to North Carolina early in the morning. My cousin came and got us, and took us to the chinese store. He ordered us a couple of egg rolls each. I remember being angry because my sisters ate most of them and I only ate one. My cousin drove us to his Mom´s house because that’s where we would be staying for the night. We called his mom Flo. That’s what we grew up calling her every time we seen her. She showed us where we would be sleeping that night. After, she showed us we all took showers and went to sleep. Because, we had to get up early.

July 13th 2009

6:00 in the morning and I was really tired. Flo woke me and my siblings up, and I remember being rushed to the bathroom, then being rushed down the stairs. Flo made made my siblings and me carry out coolers, suitcases, and blankets to a Grey Hound bus that was outside waiting for us. When, we got outside I remember looking around seeing a bunch of cars and a lot of people. All family I guess. We were the last to board the bus, and now I guess our journey has finally begun.

July 13th - 15th 2009

After, we boarded the bus, I remember falling asleep right away. Now, that I think about, I really don't remember talking to my siblings as much on the bus, because I decided to sit next to a relative named Sunny Jr. The only reason why I sat next to him is because he bought me buffalo wings on a rest break. It was approaching night time and I can remember being so bored because the tv was broke and there was nothing to watch, so sleep was the only option. At, another stop I remember learning not to sit on the toilets in public places. Flo told me if I had to poop when I went to the bathroom, make sure that I put toilet paper on the toilet seats so I wouldn’t get crabs. At, the time I didn’t know what that meant, but now I do. At, this point we were almost at North Carolina, we had at least 3 more hours or so. I went to sleep for the remainder of the time and when I woke up, I remember it being really dark, but I could see a white picket fence, and a empty road. After, about 10 minutes, I seen a sign that said “Welcome to North Carolina” Everyone on the bus had gotten very excited that we all had finally reached our destination. It was like 30 min until we reached our hotel and I remember it was a big hotel. But, as soon as we got there we all went straight to bed. I remember having to share a bed with Flo.

July 17th 2009

The day has finally come. I was waiting for this day since I heard the news about the reunion. Flo let me and my sister go down to the pool with a lot of relatives. I seen a Cousin that I would see occasionally and he said he would watch me while I was in the pool, so I guess that was cool. I went to sit by the pool and a guy came over to me and introduced me to his sons. When they came over at first, I was a little timid because I didn’t know them but after awhile I began to talk more. After a lil bit, we all decided to get in the pool. I set on the steps in the pool because I couldn’t swim, and they teased me because of it. I then decided to do what they were doing because I wanted to be cool and I was tired of the teasing. All though I couldn’t swim I decided to jump in the pool at 5ft. Where none of us could swim at. All I remember is falling backwards and gasping for air, and flailing around like a fish out of water. This continued for a while (seemed like forever) until my cousin came and pulled me out of the water. I sat on the side of the pool for a little bit, until I decided it was boring. So, I decided to jump back in with everyone else, in the same spot that I almost drowned in before. The same thing happened as before, I got pulled out by my cousin, and that’s all I can really remember until the banquet, but that’s for another story.