Place of Mind

Pictures can tell a thousand words, besides explaining what you witness. As adults we take every moment to heart, to keep in our memories ; but as children we don’t really seem to grasp the fact that our life is flying before our eyes. The last couple of months of my adult years, I have come to realise that every second of my life is very precious to my heart; whenever I think back to my childhood years i start to remember little snippets here and there. Recently whenever I think back to recent memories I either start to tear up or start to laugh. These five photographs are who I am: My Home, Downtown, Christ Advocate Hospital, Nail Salon, and Florida.

My home is a place I can always be myself, and be with my family. I have lived here for about five years. When I think of home, I always think about family. My family mean so much to me. I have three brothers and im the only girl, I have two older brothers and a younger brother. My older brothers are my life, they mean so much to me. They both are like a fatherly figure to me. Even though my younger brother may be younger, he still considers that I am a responsibility to him. My parents are my world and I owe them my life. My mother is my bestfriend and I can tell her anything. I am very grateful for the fact that my mother and I can talk about things without any judgement. My father is/was my bestfriend also. Obviously being the only girl had its perks but my father pushed me to have thicker skin in this rough world, and I am very grateful for that very much. Most people tend to think by being the only girl, that I get everything I asked for which isnt true. I had to work for thinks just like everyone else in my family.

Downtown Chicago is a place where I can escape to and just to relax. When I am stressed to the point of my breaking point, there are two places where I can escape to and Downtown Chicago is one of them. I feel so relaxed whenever im in the city, its so open and just very welcoming. When I graduated high school, my family and I had went to Downtown and just had the most amazing time. It was a celebration and an amzing family night. Thinking back to that night I remember that we were by the lake and we were all joking around, and just being ourselves without a care in the world. When I am very stressed, all I have to do is come to the city to clear my head. The air, the breeze, the skyline, the lights, the sound of the cars make it feel like home. Nothing stops running, its always on just like home. Whenever I come home from the city I feel so relaxed and so at peace. There were times when I would forget to tell my mother I was there, but as soon as I stepped foot into the house she would just look at me and say “ How was the City?”. Its funny to me that she knows where I was always at, but mothers know best.

Christ Advocate Hospital is a place that is very meaningful to me. A lot of memories come to mind. Other than the fact that I work there, its been in my family history. Working at Christ has its perks, when I work the night shift or the morning shift and its coming up to the morning or night time, I would go to the ninth floor just to watch the sunrise or sunset. It always reminds me that no matter what I am very thankful that I get to watch the sunset or sunrise or being able to be alive and healthy watching a beautiful moment. Recently I have been jumping from hospital to hospital because of my fathers condition. My father had passed away last month in February and it was the most difficult time of my life. Thinking back to being with him in the hospital and seeing him so restless had me thinking about how life is so short. No matter if your sick or not you could leave this world in a split second. After those weeks going back and forth from hospitals and home, it made me look at patients differently. I now understand what it feels like to lose a loved one. It was and still is one of the hardest times in my life. I am glad that I was and still am grieving with my family by my side.

The Nail Salon is the most common thing a women can rely on a relaxing and gossiping day. I always say that a nail salon to a woman is like a barbershop for men, just gossip and love in the air. Whenever I go get my nails done it’s always been my safe spot to run away to. As I said before, there are two places I life to go to relax and get away from stress: downtown and the nail salon. When I have the day off from work and school, I usually just stay home and stay with my mother and brothers; but sometimes I like to pamper myself but also I like to pamper my mother too. I like to spend time with her as much as I can, to enjoy the moments with her. Whenever I go to the nail salon and get my nails done, I feel like a new woman who just a new car.

I never went on vacation, until I went to florida with my bestfriend and her family. I will always charish all the memories I made. It was the first time I went out of town and I went with my befriend to florida. We had the most amazing time, we went to disneyworld. Is was spectacular, I will never forget that vacation. I went with her family and it just made me think about my family in Chicago and how I missed them dearly. When I went I was very excited but coming to the end of the vacation I had missed my family a lot. Ever since I came back I had told my parents that we should all go to Florida for a family vacation. I had so much fun that time. The most exciting time is when we saw the princesses castle and they had a firework show. It was so beautiful and the colors splashing all around the sky. It brightened the dark sky and made a siloute around the castle. It made me see that even though my life at that point was very devestating, those colors brightened my day. It made me know that no matter what I would go through there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

In conclusion, life can be risky, devastating, and very bright. At the end of the day, your life shouldn’t be a road filled with stop signs, it should be like Route 66. Even when my family has been and still is going through a tough time, we are there for each other no matter what. If we ever fought, we would always come back to each other because we are the only people in our lives that understand what we are going through.