Vanessa Castillo

Brandon:

Don’t read this.

:)

Breakfast on a Tray

Every Friday evening, during my childhood years in Redlands, we would have Vespers in our living room. The last song we would sing was “This Little Light of Mine,” and we would turn off all the lights in the house and light up our little candles we each held in our hands. When the flame of all our candles were blown out, it was time to head upstairs to bed. My daddy would carry me upstairs and tuck me in bed, because I always fell asleep on the couch. You know, my daddy used to carry my mommy upstairs too. She worked the night shift at the hospital. I remember hearing the garage open at around 7 in the morning and knowing that was my mommy coming home from work. My mommy was always tired, so my daddy carried her upstairs to her bed. I used to bring her breakfast on a breakfast tray while she was in bed; oatmeal was her favorite. During the day, she called the house phone to ask if someone could bring her a glass of water. I always wanted to.

Now that I’m older, I have realized that my father has spent many of his nights sleeping alone. I mean, I have always known that, but I never really gave it much thought until recently. When my daddy was a dental technician, he took my sister and I with him to his late night work at the office; and afterwards, we almost always went to McDonalds. We never told my mommy we ate McDonalds because we knew she would yell at all of us for eating bad food and spending money when we have leftovers in the fridge from last night’s dinner. We also never told her that on nights when my daddy didn’t go to the office, we would rent a PG-13 movie and eat ice cream. There was always ice cream hiding in the back of the freezer. My mommy always found it and got mad, but we kept on hiding ice cream anyways.

I feel bad for both of my parents thinking about the past, but right now, I’m glad that my mom switched to day shifts and that she’s the healthiest she has ever been. She has time to eat healthy and exercise. She’s just glowing, and it’s absolutely beautiful to see that now. My dad has more time to spend with my mom now. I’m happy for the both of them.

I just wish I could be home to witness something I didn’t witness when I was a kid.