Letters

Letter 1

November 5th, 2004

Dear Dad,

I've just arrived at San Jose, California. Sitting there in the plane for hours took a toll on my neck and back, so carrying my luggage was really difficult for me, but I managed, so it's okay. Uncle Alex was waiting there at the airport for half an hour, but since the plane was ten minutes late, he decided to wait at a coffee shop. Using my phone, I navigated through the crowds while texting him. When I came to his location, he handed me a cup of coffee and took my luggage out of my hands. I was a little confused at first because I didn't know whether the coffee was mine or not, so just I walked behind him until we got to his car without questioning it. He opened his trunk and asked me if I liked it. I thought, "Like what?" but of course it was about the coffee. I told him I didn't know it was mine, but he said that it had my name on it. I checked for a name and there it was, my name hand written in sharpie and I covered it up with the palm of my hand. I couldn't get over how dumb I felt, but we laughed it off.

Anyways, the trip back to his house was about thirty minutes long, or at least it felt like it. I wasn't paying attention, honestly. I spent all that time drinking my nice cup of coffee and after my final sip, I set it down in the cup holder. Uncle Alex then glanced at me and said "Done already?" I didn't understand what he meant by that so I replied with a mildly certain but curious "Yes" He told me that I took sip after sip and finished it in a pretty short time. Honestly, I was pretty anxious to see his beach house, but I didn't want to make it obvious to him, so I said "Yeah, it was really good. I was just savoring it by taking sips, and I especially liked the aftertaste" Which was true.

When we arrived, the ocean looked pretty grey, but I wasn't there for the ocean anyways, even though I'd like to count it as a special addition to Uncle Alex's front yard. I unloaded my stuff and Uncle Alex helped out. He was concerned because he knew that I could injure myself by pulling a muscle. I'd like to say he was over reacting, but it was true, regardless if I could hurt myself or not, we were fighting over the luggage and who gets to carry it in the house. He said I could pull a muscle, and in my defense I said that it was my stuff and I should be the one to carry it. In the end, he ended up taking it because apparently he's "older" than me and I have to respect that, or at least respect the fact that he's my uncle, even though it made no sense since I was the one to bring it to the coffee shop.

I walked into his house, and I'll admit, I was pretty disappointed. The last time we visited him, his house was full of furniture and all kinds of cool knickknacks like Newton's cradle and an hourglass. I remembered that he used to hang up prints of Van Gogh and Picasso's work in the living room, and I remember that he used to display shot glasses of all the states he's visited. He told me once that he was close to thirty and the last state he visited was Hawaii.

I asked him about his missing stuff and he told me that he knew that I was gonna live with him, so he put most of his stuff in boxes in the garage and in the attic. Before I could feel an ounce of guilt, he told me that he wanted me to feel at home by decorating his house the way I wanted it, or just like our house back in Australia. He didn't want me to feel homesick at all and he mentioned you having cancer quite a lot. He felt pretty guilty about it and I could tell because of the way he speaks, but he tries to keep on a smile.

Afterwards, he led me up to my room that only had a bed and a TV. I asked about a book shelf and a dresser, but he said that we were gonna go shopping for furniture tomorrow. I asked why, and I told him that he didn't need to do that if it wasn't necessary. He said that it was necessary, because I'm his favorite nephew. I smiled on the inside because I knew that I was his only nephew.

He set down my luggage in my room and then he ordered pizza. I told him that I liked anything, which wasn't completely true. I just didn't want to appear picky, so he just ordered combination and I was completely fine with that. When the pizza came, we sat down at the kitchen table discussing about my life back at home and what I'd miss most about it. I answered each question as honest as I could and he promised me that I'd make twice as the amount of friends here than back at home.

When I was finished with dinner I went straight upstairs to brush my teeth and take a shower. Then I headed to bed to read a book, but before the stars could come out, I took the time to write this letter. I was so caught up in the book, I almost forgot.

Your son,

Rico