Chapter 3 - Settling In

It was hard to imagine that all our possessions were securely stored in the plethora of boxes inside our soon to be living room. I traced back and forth through the house, analyzing the traits of each room and mentalizing the new places we would place the furniture and other knick-knacks. For some reason, there was a unique attraction in my mind with a specific bedroom, one that had its own balcony that peeked over the rose-filled garden. This was a view I could get used to waking up to every morning. I hurried downstairs and picked up my personal box of items and then quickly returned to that comforting room. My eyes brightened and everything was falling into place perfectly, who knew.
After 5 hours of hard labour work every piece of furniture was finally assembled and it felt like being back home again. My mother made me some hot chocolate and started up the first fire in our new chimeny, something that would become a new habit of ours. I snuck a quick glance over at my mom, who peacefully adulated over the fireplace and I couldn´t help but be so more proud of myself for sharing this great change with her, my best friend. In Virginia, my parents were divorced for some 5 years, and it was anything but easy for my mom, but she undermined every obstacle and succeeded with a wide grin on her face. Her independence is one of her strengths I admire most. I knew she needed me during this change, in her condition, she needed to be looked after. That night I cuddled into my new bed and stared infinitely into the cieling thinking about how life has a funny way of taking place, how nothing ever goes as planned, but yet everything that happens, happens for a reason.

Chapter 2 - The Arrival

After 15 hours of a sour buttocks, inundating tears, and lack of consistent sleep, the elongated trip came to an end. When we departed from our friendly craft, we searched for our luggages and waited under the red lit ,"SALIDA" sign. I took a deep breath and managed to put on a smile, a smile of optimism. How many teenage girls can say, " I moved to Spain for a chance to start a new life over." I should be grateful. right?
As the gates opened we were swarmed by family members who planted a kiss on each of our cheeks. I soon found out this is a very european tradition. Their adulation towards our arrival elightened me grandly. Maybe this was where I was meant to be all along, a home where people loved my presence and constantly reminded me how special I was.
On the drive to our unknown future home, I visually observed every aspect of this new society; the way Spanish people greeted each other, the clothing they wore, the narrowness of the roads, the species of plant existent, the proximity of buildings to each other, and more. This was a place I've never seen before, one where the culture was evident and unity was present.
The car pulled over by a small villa surrounded by bamboo gates, a very pleasant picturesque view. I could see through the archway the main house made with the in-law suite that there was a private pool within the distance. It had rose bushes crawling all over the front lawn and it was simply perfect. The grin on my face grew exponentially. I hopped out of the car and skipped through the entrance where i closed my eyes and imagined my mom and I being happy here. Surely this place would help her relax and enjoy life for what it is, it´s beauty, and not just it´s impression in the moonlit night.

Chapter 1 - Goodbye Old Life

I would greatly miss Virginia, the rollings waves of the ocean in summer and the bittersweet snow days of winter, but most of all I would miss my father. It wasn´t easy to think that I would soon be thousands of kilometers away from him with email as our only reliable source of communication. Even though a massive change was about to be thrust upon me, without anyway knowing how things from now on would turn out, I still could not bring myself to regret the decision of leaving. I needed a change. This journey was the beginning of a new start.

"Okay, do you have your ticket and iterinary? Make sure you keep it in an accessible area. You don´t want to burrow through your backpack the last minute.", said Garret, my worriesome father. He always patronizing me as if I was not smart enough to know these things for myself. I guess that´s one reason I love him so much.
"Yes, dad. I have it in the front pocket of my pack, secured and safe.", I replied.
"Okay Jennifer. Just make sure you give me a call as soon as you arrive home. It´s imperative that you follow my instructions, you hear?", he said. Stressing the last word as and order.
"Roger that Captain!" I said sarcastically.
He gave me a quick smirk, and I could tell by his eyes he was thinking , "don´t be such a smart alick kiddo." We loved getting on each others nerves, it was something that we found amusing. I get it from him, of course.
"Well come over here to your old paps and give him one more last big hug!", he blurred with a less sincere tone than before.
"Geez who said it was the last? I promise I´ll be back soon pops!"
I fell into my dad´s embrace, and I knew I would greatly miss that. I tried to get last sniff of his cologne and i captured that stimulus in my mind to keep it as a memory.
"I love you dad..."
there was a long pause
"I love you too...hotrod."
When he let go I soon felt insecure and imbalanced, but shortly after I shook myself out of that state of feeling and I stepped back and gave him one last look of recovery. He shed a tear or two, something out of his character. I pivoted towards the loaded mini-van where my meticulous mother waited for me. This was it. This was goodbye.
As we drove away I couldn't help but stick my face and hands up to the back window as I watched the silhouette of my father disappear into a long distance blur of nothingness.

Preface

"O Romeo, Romeo,
wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny the father and refuse thy name,
or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
and I´ll no longer be a Capulet."

-William Shakespeare