Writing Workshop

3. Write a subjective description of a scene you remember from you childhood. In your thesis Statement and in your conclusion, explain how you adult impressions of the scene differ from those of you childhood.

The Day my Mother Left

              Now that I look back to all of my childhood memories I can see the huge gap between the person I was then and the person I am now. Despite all of the differences, there are still situations that would make me think and feel the same way as I did when I was a child. The morning after my mom left still makes me feel the same way now as I did when I was four. There is just one difference now that I am older, and that would be that I did not understand back then that I was going to see my mom again.

             I remember it as if it were yesterday. When I was four my mother and I still lived in Honduras while my dad was in the United States. My parents had been apart for three years already, and my mom decided to leave her country to be with my dad again. At that time my mom did not have the money to take me with her, so she had to leave me behind. One day she told me that she was going to leave, and that I had to stay with my grandparents. I refused immediately, there was no way that I was going to let my mother leave me behind. My mom offered me anything she could think of such as: money, clothes, toys, and even candy. Still I refused, and finally after trying everything that she could think of, my mom gave me twenty lempiras, (Honduran currency) and told me that she was going to come back for me the next morning. Of course I believed her and let her go. Now that I think back on it I think that I should have asked my mom for more money. I could have taken the hundred lempiras that she had offered me first.

            Later the same day after my mom had already left I used the money that she gave me to buy myself a drink. When I used to live there, (I do not know if it is still the same) the sodas used to be sold in a clear bag with the straw tightly tied to the bag instead of a can. The soda was col against my fingers. I was careful not to hold the bag too tight, or the soda would travel up the straw and spill everywhere. I was so happy because it was not everyday that I was able to drink a soda, and my mother was going to come back for me in the morning. However, my happiness did not last.

            The next morning I remember waking up expecting to already see my mom there, but she was not. I jumped off the bed half naked and raced outside. I felt the jagged rocks underneath my small bare feet, but I did not care at all. All I wanted was to see my mother. My injured feet carried me as fast as they could to the edge of my grandparent's property. I was probably three feet from the road. Everything was quiet except for the birds' beautiful singing. There was not a single soul outside with me. The road was bare, everyone was sleeping, because it was still early. The sun was barely coming up, and I remember standing there alone waiting for me mother to come pick me up. I waited and waited and she never came, and I felt utterly alone. Desperation gripped my heart, so I began to scream loudly enough for my voice to echo. "Mama! Mama! Adonde esta," I kept screaming at nothing, just facing the bare road. My vision became blurry as salty tears rolled down my cheeks. At that moment I felt alone until I felt my grandmothers arms wrap around me. Her arms were warm and comforting. A whole year passed before I could see my mother again.

              Now that I am older I see how dumb I must have looked screaming fro my mother in the morning that day. The thought of never seeing my mother again was painful. If that were to happen to me again I would probably feel the same pain and desperation, but I would know that I could see my mom again. I still do not know why I believed her that time, I just know that I will not fall for that trick again.