¿Qué tal? Bueno, continuemos con 4to grado…
So all the details about 4th grade are a little cloudy – yet one detail I remember vividly: journal entries.
Every day, for about ten to fifteen minutes, we had a journal entry. Our journals were uniform – a little smaller than a sheet of 8” x 11” paper, khaki in color, with our names in black marker: blah! But it is precisely what we have heard: it’s what is inside that counts. The prompts were written on the board, when we got back from recess, music or art class, pretty much whenever we were out of the room: if you found $50.00 – what would you do with them; what kind of day are you having – describe it; if you had to choose between a dog and a cat… This was my forte!
$50.00 – well after tithes and offering, I would most likely hide it from myself in my room – so as to later surprise myself with what I found… yes, I’ve always been a little nerdy. I would then go on to write about specific hiding places.
Well, today…today is an okay day. My brother is learning this stupid song in kindergarten – something “Candy man and Salty dog” and I’ve had to hear him singing for the past week. Really, I preferred the “No, no mosquito” song…
Dog and cat – ¡por favor! no question – it’s a dog. I don’t like cats. I don’t know exactly why…just don’t like them…
One journal entry in particular is an indelible mark in my mind: If you could go ANYWHERE – where would you go and why?
Hay Dios, ¿adónde iría y por qué? ¿A otro país? ¿A otro planeta?
It was as if I had been given a ticket to travel anywhere in time or space and I didn’t know how to use it…
Claro, ¿adónde iría?… ¿Adónde iría?… Pues yo iría al cielo.
Growing up in the Pentecostal church all of my short – 9 year life – all I had heard since I was a toddler was how beautiful heaven was. If you behaved, and if you were obedient and if… then one day you would see HEAVEN. But, why wait till then? – if I could use this ticket to go now! So I got to writing:
If I could go anywhere, I would go to heaven. I would go and see the angels and say hello to Jesus. I wouldn’t be scared because I have been good, for the most part and I know Jesus loves me. I would be able to see my family from up there – like in the movies and I would then come back to get my family and take them with me…even Oscar, cause even though he gets on my nerves I love him and I know Jesus loves him too.
Oh Alej, young naïve, Alej… ¿Qué hiciste, niñita chispa? – no sabes, ni tienes idea, qué has pedido.