Sophomore Seminar Narratives Spring 2019 | Page 28

Walk in My Shoes

by Nora Riendeau

I take a deep breath in and inhale the city's muggy air into my lungs, then I slowly exhale with a sigh of relief. I look down at my feet on the sidewalk to see a cigarette butte and my feet wearing my coffee brown Oxfords. Glancing to my right, I see the sun glaring over from the roof of the local deli and on to my tights. I feel the warmth from the sun through my tights and it almost feels like the vibrancy is spreading all throughout my body. Every morning I had to rely on myself to walk to school. It took me about 10 to sometimes 15 minutes for me to get to school in the morning, and to be honest I never really minded the walk. It gave me time to think and observe the things around me.

The 1940’s were definitely a time to remember for me because so much change occurred. Somerville was currently the most densely populated city east of the Mississippi and you for sure could tell by the clutter. There was about 10,000 people in 4 square miles of city, including my sister, mother and me. I was about half way through high school when we put my childhood house up for sale. We were planning on moving to an apartment in Somerville due to living conditions. I felt an ache inside my body knowing I would have to leave a house full of so many cherished memories. I arrived to our old house with my aunt and uncle on a gloomy and overcast day. As I was walking towards the house, two big men walked out of the house door struggling to carry out a sofa. One of the men looked irritated with his cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

“Pick your damn end up, John! I’m struggling here.”

“Bob, I am trying to get the end through the door.”

Me and my uncle grabbed some light things out of the house to bring to the new apartment. I grabbed our living room lamp.

It had some dust on top of the shade and a pretty teal and tan floral design on the base. My uncle grabbed some of our china and some of our photo frames. We took them into the car where my aunt was waiting and we drove to the new apartment. My uncle got outta the car, grabbed the box of photo frames from the trunk and walked over to the new and unfamiliar door. My aunt and I started grabbing the lamp and the china when I glanced over and saw what seemed to be an angry man outside the doorway.

“I don’t know what you and your family think you’re doing, but this apartment is condemned. NO ONE can live in here!”

My uncle talked to the man for a while with a lot of hand gestures. Finally he walked over to us and told us the news. I felt lost and confused. I didn’t know what we were going to do. My aunt looked and me and smiled.

“Looks like you’re going to live with us!”

I’ve never heard anything that has ever made me so happy before. I felt like I could instantly feel the happiness flow through my body from my chest. My aunt and uncle’s home was my favorite place on Earth. We soon enough went home to tell my mother the news. My mother instantly had a slight frown grow on her face and I could tell she was worried about us, how we would all take care of each other. My mother never really cared much for rural areas, and always preferred the city more.

We told the shipping men the new location and soon enough we were on our way to Barre, Massachusetts. I couldn’t get enough of the blue skies, the oak trees surrounding my sight everywhere I looked and the smell of fresh clean air. I looked outside my window and saw a baby calf with its mother in a pasture. I put my hand outside the moving car and felt the friction between my hand and the wind the motion of the car was creating.

We finally arrived to our new home and all my cousins came out to welcome us. Things were already off to a great start because I wouldn’t be a stranger, I had friends. School in the new area was no issue for me and life cruised along.

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