Weblog #2: Orange juice soaked memories

I moved to the United States at a very young age, after being born in Mexico and having lived in Brazil for 8 months. When we moved for my dad's job to Marietta, Georgia, a woman we had met in Brazil came with us. Her name was Gloria, fondly known to all her loved ones as "Yu yu'". She was essentially a grandma to us, and easily one of the most special people I have ever known. I could think of a million stories from all the time I spent with her before she passed last year, but one story my mother always tells that seems to epitomize exactly the kind of person she was.


One afternoon that we were all visiting in Mexico, my mom took me, my little brother, and Yu yu' out for breakfast with an old friend. Mrs. Lucita, our family friend, was an older woman, very mild mannered and very sweet. It was her first time meeting Yu yu', and she had the unfortunate luck to be sitting directly in front of her at breakfast. (A place we would all learn was best to avoid). My mom decided to tell one of her classic jokes, making the whole table burst with laughter. Well Yu yu' had a signature laugh, the infectious, contagious laugh that you can't help but lose yourself to. Her laughter was animated, and with it came merriment, joy, and unfortunately for Mrs. Lucita, orange juice. The poor woman was bathed from across the table, from head to lap, in saliva and orange juice. While I personally don't remember this story, I can recall multiple times where I was on the receiving end of the table, and how much funnier it was to be a spectator than the one in need of a second shower.

1.  Did you add or leave out any parts of the original story?

I'm not sure if I left out any parts, but I took some freedoms in the details. I'm not sure if it was just my brother and I who went to breakfast, or if the rest of my family attended. I also don't quite remember if it was a joke that made her laugh, or just a silly part of the conversation.




2.  If so, what did you change and why?  If not, why did you feel it was important to preserve the story as it was told to you?
I didn't purposely change it, rather for story telling purposes. I feel that the rest of the story is very important to preserve, because it illustrates how even now that she's gone, she stays with us through our memories of her.

3.  How does your retelling compare to Sanjay's retelling of the Ramayana?
 I think Ramayana was re-told mostly to make the characters easier to relate to, and the entire story simpler to read and connect to. My story was a silly one to begin with, so the seriousness and pictures come with the story itself.