Still

It’s been one year today that my Ito passed away. He’s been on my mind a lot for the past several weeks. I couldn’t believe it when I realized that it had already been a year. I miss him. I found out last night from my Mom that Ito’s wife Amelia died too – three or four months ago. Our family found out by accident. Her insanely selfish daughter never bothered to tell anyone of her Mother’s husband’s family. Asshole! It’s really beyond my comprehension how someone can be that selfish. Maybe that’s a good thing. I could never be that cruel. Most of Amelia’s family certainly never made life easy for Ito or for anyone else in our family. Amelia on the other hand was a woman unafraid to speak her mind; completely opposite of my Ita. My Mom and the rest of Ito’s children never quite took to her because of this. It was different for the grandchildren. I would have liked to have been able to say goodbye to my Ito’s wife of over ten years. Life has been all over the place since my Ito died. Right now it’s good; better than I even expected. A lot of pleasant surprises have come my way. Still, I miss him. I’ve lost all of my grandparents now but I think this one hit me differently. I was a lot older and I think because of that I appreciated the fact that he was still with us and in good health. In the meantime, my Mom and Uncle continue to work on his house so they can put it on the market. I don’t think I want to see it again. From what she tells me they’ve really updated it. I’d like to remember it the way it was when my Ito and Ita lived there: the swing on the tree in the backyard, the old TV in the living room with some novela on, the bathroom that somehow always had a fresh bar of Ivory soap, and my grandparent’s bedroom where you could always count on seeing that rubber, oval ‘thing’ that Ito would keep his change in. I won’t forget.