by Ticia

Created on: July 30, 2010   Last Updated: August 09, 2010

I couldn’t have been more than 6 years old at the time and I clearly remember the details that surrounded this event in just one day of my very young life and I still wonder today – was it my fault and why do I consistently make sacrifices for our elderly folk.

There were probably about 5 or 6 of us kids throwing a football round in the courtyard of our Bronx apartment building.   We played there frequently and I clearly remember it being summer and it was a very nice sunny day.   We lived on the second floor of this building and as we looked up at the windows we would see many lines of washed clothing being hung out to dry.  It was such a different time for me back then and life was so much simpler.  Mostly all the children in the neighborhood would gather in this courtyard to play.  It was very safe and centered in an area where our mothers could look out their windows and know that we were all still there.  Not to mention when lunch or dinner time came, our mothers would only have to yell out the windows once to tell us all to come in to eat.  Everyone was so friendly and our parents all worked hard and being all grown up I now know the struggles they faced every day.  I mostly remember how my mother would buy one bag of M & M's and split them between us six children.  It was amazing how we all fought over those red ones but it was the luck of the drawer as she divided them up.  This was a big treat for us and it didn't happen often but we were always so excited when it did.   Sometimes she would save the bag for a rainy day when we were all stuck inside the apartment.  In between two jobs, Dad would come home and check on things.  I remember the one time when his father had died and it was the only time I think I saw my father cry.  I didn't know much about death then but I remembered when Grandpa died because he stopped coming over on Tuesday night and we would not see him any more.  Tuesday's were a special treat because Grandpa would bring us 6 Tootsie roll lollypops and again we all wanted those red ones.  Grandpa had some restrictions on us though.  My Mom made beef stew for him every Tuesday and we had to clean our plates before we would earn a lollypop.  The first to finish would get the red one and that was a struggle but better than the old liver and onions….yuk.  Of course on Sundays we would enjoy our macaroni with

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