I was seven and I knew it wasn’t going to be me. My mom, my dad, my brother and I were on our way to New York to pick up my grandma and my uncle who at the time was only eight. As soon as we pounded on the door we ran to my and my uncle to greet them. First I ran to my grandma. When our bodies touched warmth filled my body. She smelled of ginger ale and peppermints. Not the best combination but it was “her smell”. Even though she only spoke Spanish and I didn’t speak Spanish at all we loved each other very much. Then I ran to my uncle that is one of my best friends and I love him very much.

We stayed in their apartment for a night or two then we were off to Florida. We left around 7:00 in the morning. I sleepily rolled out of bed. We were off to a good start we had a mini T.V. that played movies but not live T.V. and a couple of board games for when we got to the hotel.

The seating arrangements were my mom and my dad in the front, my brother and grandma in the middle row, and me my uncle and the mini T.V. in the back. My uncle and I were having so much fun, once and a while we would touch my brother then he would start waling at the top of his lungs. Then we would get screamed at by my mom, my dad, and my grandma

After about twelve long hours in the car we were in North Carolina and stayed in a Hilton hotel that my dad worked with. As soon as we stepped foot into the Hilton my uncle and I were in awe, it was huge and beautiful. When we got to the elevator there were so many buttons. We watched movies like The Wizard of Oz all night. When we finally did fall asleep the beds were so comfortable.

The next morning I woke up around eleven I was already in the car refreshed and ready to go, we were on our way to Florida

About an hour later around twelve we were screaming and playing in my grandma’s ear and she was so tired so she said, “Whoever can be quiet for five minutes I’ll give them five dollars!” She had said it in spanish so my mom had to translate for me I was seven and I knew it wasn’t going to be me. I couldn’t stay quiet for more than two minutes. After about two and a half minutes went by I busted out crying because I couldn’t stay quiet. My uncle started cracking up and that only made me feel even more devastated. After I cooled down my grandma gave me the five dollars. My uncle got so mad.

Even though this seemed like a normal fun trip. This was one of my favorite trips because it was the last really good memory that I had with my grandma. She recently died, but we don’t know why.