keeping me grounded, 12.19.23

tonight, i went back to greenville to visit e and ian. we went to the aquatic center to hoop for the second night in a row. it was good this time, went 3-2 though i didn’t contribute much. i did hit the game winning 3 our last game, so it wasn’t all a loss. we picked up ms. mayra afterwards and went to longhorns. after dinner, ms. mayra invited me back to her place to give me a piece of carrot cake eduardo’s girlfriend had made. as soon as i stepped in her apartment with e, it smelled just like their apartment in trellis pointe back in 2005. it took me back. it also made me that much more thankful of her and e. they’ve been in my life for almost 20 years. we are real family. it’s amazing to think how e and i have grown up right in front of her eyes. she asked about my mom and how she has been. before we left, i gave her a hug and she said she loved me with all my heart. i told her the same, because i do.

as we drove back to e’s spot, one thing was on my mind. ms. mayra had asked if i had talked to a mutual friend of e and i. i told her i hadn’t spoken to him since highschool, but the reason she asked was because we were all best friends in 7th/8th grade. i told her i hadn’t and she asked if i knew that his mother had passed away last year. i hadn’t heard, but it was so crazy because ms. mayra said they were close and that she did a lot for her when it came down to e and his brother. i remember his mom being so kind and so calm, so naturally i asked what happened. she said she didn’t know, but that it might’ve been stress from her job as a nurse. it made me so sad because i remember how sweet of a lady she was when we were all younger.

life is too short.

-ratha, 11:31pm, 12.19.23