20 Years Ago Today

On October 14, 1984, my family and I moved from Puerto Rico to New York City. I can’t believe it! Sometimes I feel that it was just yesterday and other times, it seems like an eternity ago.

I still remember waking up really early for our 7 AM flight, the outfit I wore and also that it was my first time on a plane and I ended up with the worst case of motion sickness ever! As we stepped outside the airport, I remember the feeling of horror and excitement as I felt the coldest temperature in my life, saw trees with orange and brown leaves for the first time and not understanding anything anyone around me was saying. I was 9 years old.

In the months that followed, my brother and I simply wanted to go back home! We wanted our house, our friends and our way of life back. That of course, was until we saw snow for the first time. It was the most exciting and beautiful thing we had ever seen. Every day was an adventure that first year and everything was new and interesting. One of my funniest memories is my mom trying to explain that all those weird animals that I now know as squirrels were not rats, they were squirrels! BTW, does anybody know how hard it is to learn to say the word squirrel? Let me tell you, I am still traumatized by that word to this day.

Happy 20th Anniversary to mom, junior and myself!


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