Forever and Always.

Chapter Seven

            I still remember the day he left. It was such a hard goodbye… HAHA. Just kidding, but he really did leave! Joshua left for vacation in Florida and I believe it was a full week!

I was very bored, as you could tell. He was my chauffeur for everything and I certainly cherished every smile of his that I saw.

That whole week I spent it hanging out with my cousin, Lizzie and her boyfriend Pao. They were certainly the couple, very cute but every now and then it got rocky.

What inspired me the most though is how they would be able to climb right back up.

They are a strong relationship and its every night that I pray their relationship will continue to grow within each other but to also see the light of the Lord.

But it takes time to grow, so I am always going to continually love them two. Besides, they were cute together; no one could disagree with that.

I believe that every relationship does have its rollercoasters but when the ride comes to a stop, always continually love one another no matter what the bumps in the road are.

I spent most of that week evaluating my life and delving myself into the Word of God. It was so beautiful, honestly.

The more knowledge I gained, the more life made sense. You see, God truly does have a reason for everything.

As I look back, He was with me during my parents’ divorce. He was the one who gave me strength and wiped my tears away at night. Throughout my life, looking back, I never realized it before.

It truly does still amaze me of how great our God is. Diving in His word, it is an experience that I enjoy every time.

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When Joshua came back, that was when I left.

I went to Michigan and Ohio to for a family reunion. We left for our flight at 8pm and got there at 10pm, but in Michigan it was already midnight.

My Aunt Frances came to pick us up with my cousin Junior. They looked tired and I was beat! It was a thirty minute drive to her house and along the way; I got to see God’s beautiful creation. Michigan is filled with trees, and lots of ‘em!

When we arrived to her house, we got to meet her husband Mark! Real kind guy and he paid for everything for us!

Right when we got there, we were very kindly greeted by two little cute puppies named Bella and Max.

Mark put our luggage downstairs and they fed us like crazy. We denied the food of course but they still fed us!

Eggs, bacon, noodles, rice, chips, and dips! It was like a huge feast and we ended up staying up until 2am watching Ninja Warriors.

That was certainly an interesting show. We all bonded during that time, laughing at the person’s fails and catching up on all the things we’ve missed.

We went to bed in the cozy guest bedroom and it was very comfortable.

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That morning we were awake at 8am and got ready for breakfast. We went to Big Boy and it was YUMMY! I had such a full stomach by then and we took lots of pictures.

Afterward, we went to Cj Berrymores, which was sort of like Boondocks. An arcade with go-karts and bumper boats! I ended up losing in racing with the go-karts and whoever the loser, they got shot with water guns and were not allowed to shoot at others.

I think you could guess why I was drenched by the end of the day! But all in all, it was amazing.

We snacked at a local restaurant and sadly, I couldn’t remember the name. All I knew what that we had breakfast for dinner! It was such a cute little restaurant with booths and vintage looking doors and windows.

That night we headed for my grandma’s house. She lives in Toledo, Ohio so it was about a two hour drive there. I slept in the car but made sure to watch my head because it kept bobbing around all over the place!

When I woke up, we arrived and it was early morning. My Grandma and Grandpa opened the door and engulfed us in hugs.

We greeted everyone and boy, Abby and Josh had gotten so big! The last time I saw Abby, she was just born and Josh was getting taller, just like his father, which was my uncle Phillip.

Abby and Josh are my cousins, Abby was 4 years old and Josh was 7 years old. They are absolutely adorable kids and they loved going out.

My Grandpa and Grandma of course said we were getting too skinny and fed us lots of food. They asked us what we wanted to eat or what we liked and when we said we were fine with anything… they made us EVERYTHING.

I remember my mom speaking in the back of my head, “Remember, when Grandma and Grandpa give you food, eat it all! It’s disrespectful if you don’t.”

Oh no. Grandma served us and boy oh boy, it was so much food. And there still was so much left too!

She told us to go sit in the living room and watch TV while we were eating, which was odd because at home, we aren’t allowed to do that.

We ended up listening to Grandma and after my prayer; I indulged in all of the yummy food in front of me! Yum, which was the only word I have for it.

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It was quite funny, that night we all went up into the living room of my Grandparents house and played on the Wii.

Let me assure you, my Grandma was awesome at tennis on the Wii! She beat me multiple of times, and it was amazing.

That night, while everyone was asleep, I spent my time with God.

I went into the kitchen to grab myself a glass of water and went out into the backyard and walked by the lake. There is a beautiful side lake that my Grandparents have in their backyard and I fell in love with it the moment I layed my eyes upon it.

My Grandparents had a tree swing so I just swung there, glancing at the fireflies surrounding me.

I looked back and noticed that the light had turned on and my Grandpa walked out. The fireflies shined all around us, it was absolutely beautiful.

“Why aren’t you asleep?” He asked in Hmong. I replied, “I am not that tired. Besides, it’s so pretty out here too Grandpa.”

He asked me if I wanted to hear a story and I quickly replied yes. My grandparents only spoke Hmong.

He told me the story of how my mom would sometimes sneak out of the house and go to meet my dad at the library when they were teenagers. I laughed so hard and Grandpa cracked a smile.

Then suddenly, he changed the story and told me one about a princess and a frog.

My mind immediately went back to Joshua…

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Hello there my amazing readers,

YES! I have been successful in posting a chapter, thank you God! Sorry about that ending, but in the next chapter, I will post the story that my Grandpa told me. It’s quite interesting when he tells how he has heard it before. But I am absolutely Blessed to have such wonderful Grandparents and I truly still do miss them!

But again, thank you for reading and another update should be in about a week. God Bless!

love, catalinasmiles