As usual, this is a time of ups and downs for me. My imbalanced relationship with papi doesn’t help that. Mami being gone solidifies the ups and downs equally. I have so many memories of Christmas in New York. A house full of Dominicans dancing (isn’t that what you get on the 9th day of Christmas?). Food, laughter, happiness, home.
I moved to New York City a little over a month before my 5th birthday. And although I was rooted in the city, my soul knew of another home. Every summer, I would trek there and spend lazy days being “fattened” up, spoiled and loved on by Mamá, the second mother in my life. The air always smelled different to me in DR. The clouds were a shape that I could not find in the city. I remember the excitement of my soul going home and the sadness my body felt when leaving. That drive as I stared at the ocean and tried to remember every shape of the clouds through my tears is still etched in my memory.
When this video hit my inbox, it touched some dormant place I haven’t wanted to look at for a while. The place that yearns for home even as I establish my own. It brought back memories of Mamá who I haven’t seen since 2004 and Papá who passed away in 2006. Of the fact that the Frog Princess hasn’t been to my home yet and how I so desperately want Mamá to have the pleasure of seeing her before she passes.
Anyways, lots of love and memories in my heart at the moment but I wanted to share this awesomeness that JetBlue put together. It’s a reminder of what home is, where home is and who home is.
The Delgadillo family knows the trials and tribulations of leaving home. In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Delgadillo left Santo Domingo for the US for better opportunities for their family. They left behind successful careers and family in the Dominican Republic for better economic and educational opportunities for their children.
From jobs as an engineer and a therapist in the Dominican Republic to positions as a cab driver and house cleaner in the US, the Delgadillo’s did whatever it took to survive, all of which didn’t ease their yearning for a little bit of home.
Sounds like so many stories I have known. Where is home for you and, do you yearn to go back?
We’ll be taking Elena to the DR this Spring or Summer break. That video had me crying. Thanks a lot! 😛