Discordia_Eris’ Neighborhood

If could re-live one day of your life, which day would you choose?

My Mother Last Mother's Day.

My car broke down, and wasn't able to go to her place with my family.

And she died the next day.

I would love to have that day back.!!

They break all the rules.

To them, the object of their affection, if near or far. is worth a good fight.

What is it about those things you want to have so much?

How many of them will make your life full.??

And when you get what you want, what happens next?.

It would be good to get a good shot at those things we missed the first time.

When young, you crave them.

And then you see life.

By loving somebody

Who just came into your life.

Went to Tampa with Mikki to see her mother the first weekend of the new year.

Had a good time and all the family seems to be ok.

On Sunday she made the usual big breakfast, and Maritza her eldest daughter came, and she brought along her own daughter Angelica, who is a very tall, good looking girl and smart as well.

Mario her oldest son (I call him Tito) joined the table too; We had a good time eating; Mikki and Mama made Texan ommeletes, Italian sausages, corn tortillas and pancakes; Monterrey Jack Cheesse cubes got served too, and the coffee was strong.

After eating I drove Tito to the nearby church he goes to every Sunday, and went back home to pick the women who had planned to take Mama to the Khol's store in a mall about twenty minutes away, for a little shopping.

And we drove to the mall with Maritza serving as guide to get there; We got there, parked, and we went into the store.

I told Mikki I would look for a pair of shorts and would see her when done; Off we went in different directions inside the store...I got my stuff and started to look for them, and found Mikki who asked me if I had seen Mom, and I told her "She was with you", well she said pointing, she went that way, see if you can find her; Went around the store and did n't find her, got back to my wife gave her my shorts and went to the bench outside to sit and wait for them to get done...Mikki came out about an hour and a half later and ask me to use my cell-phone; I need to call Mario, Mama got a problem at the cashier, she told me while she call home and we walked together back into the store.

 And Mikki gave the cell to her; "Mario I need my Social number, is in the Book at the top of the page, they are giving me a 10% discount", so I asked Mikki what was the deal, and she said "Mom is opening an account", "No Mario is a the top of the page, keep looking" mom shouted into the phone.; Tito found the number and she gave it to the cashier girl, who told her, "Mrs Solimini, sign here and here for your Khol's Credit Card".

 "I don't want a credit card!!!!, I want to pay cash!!!!!, all I want is my 10% discount!!!!" she told the saleslady at the counter; And Mikki told her "Mom the card has no charges to it, if you come and shop and want to pay cash for the things you got, you can do that, the card makes you a member of Khol's shoppers who get all of kind discounts when the store have them"

"I don't like credit cards, I want to pay cash!!!!

And she paid the bill for what she got cash.

On the way home she said to no one in particular in the car, "Don't tell Mario I got a Credit Card"!!!!

"Don't worry Mama, I told her laughing hard, we'll tell him you got a discount card".

Got home and she tried on the things she bought.

They fit her well and she looked terrific in them.

The woman is 85 years old, her mind is still sharp, and her body full of energy and life.

People like her don't come into everybody's family; And that makes me a lucky guy.

I'm looking forward to see her again, to take her shopping again with that card.

So I can hear her say "I don't like credit cards, I want to pay cash"

She seems to be there all the time, even when you don't want her to be.

Sometimes.

Each year, she seems to get better.

When I'm in trouble she helps me solve the problem.

When I'm sad, she cheers me up.

When I'm happy, she is there to share the moment, and make it better.

When I find myself in trouble

I know where to go

The woman who knows me the best

Is the one woman I know the best too!!

Today, I'm kind of lost without her

Mikki, my wife.

She is there all the time

The way it should be.

A lot of woman in there

Can't leave her now

She got me forever and how.

Not sometimes

For all time.

My one and only wife.

Mikki, my wife said the car was fancy, because of the GPS on the dashboard, and all the leg room in the front seat, too, she told him that grandma was going to love it, because her bad legs can use the space to be more relaxed.

She was talking about Robert's car, our favorite nephew, who stopped to see us on his way to see his Grandma in Tampa for the Holidays. It was good to see the kid again, for me; Last time I saw him was at his wedding in San Antonio, before he went back to fight the bad people of Iraq.

He came with Becca his wife and Adrian, his daughter; The women now of what could become a larger family.

Robert wants more kids, if Becca is willing.!!

I was glad to see him again, the kid, now a man, made stronger by the things you see when you fight a war.

He was scarred by the experience and the adventure, if there was any in it; Only warriors have them, and get them, wounds.

Robert came back with some, and Becca is helping to heal them off him.; But the scars stay the same; You know where you got them, where they are, and where they are going to be when you get old.

His wounds are still raw, We know that, Mikki and I.

So does Becca, his best half, that loves him, and does her best to keep him happy the way he likes it, and the way it should be.

And Robert is back stronger, a full man, a man made by the fights he fought.

Against the enemy that he killed.

My Warrior came home, to see me and my wife.

He came for the holidays.

Robert, my warrior.

Is back.!!

A great kid.

Is now a great guy, and a very good man.

The best man I know today..

I live to see others now.

Time in all forms, has come to roost.

No, my life is not over, and it will not be over for a long time.

Just taking a good look at my past; And a peek of what may be ahead.

A wonderful woman gave me a kid, a long time ago, and the kid is grown now.

With kids of her own, that baby, is a full woman of today, and now.

Athena, my daughter is all grown and no longer a kid herself.

Today I feel poor, because she is not around.

And Julian and Jade take care of the one that just came, Persephone.

She got her hands full, and mom and I would like to help.

But she lives far away.

And we wish, she and the children were around.

Mikki and I are very rich; We know we have grandkids.

Having them closer would make all our lives better.

To have the kids around, near us.

Would make us all rich.

Time is going by, and I feel poor today because they are not near.

My daughter is allright, and so are her kids; My grandkids.

Today I feel rich, for my daughter, and her kids.

Grandma and Grandpa are nuts about kids

Her kids, now.

Our richness. is them..

.

After work last night I stopped at the Kangarro gas station near work to meet my friend Dean.

We parked close to the entrance to the store; He bought some Gatorade and I got me a four pack of Buds.

He drank one of his and I one of mine.

And we talked in the parking lot for a while, about the new joy in his life.

Dean became a father a month ago, Jaime his wife of a year, gave him a son.

They name him Zane.

And I kid him about it, and he say's that he hopes the "In", never gets attached to the kid.

We said good night to each other and promised to keep in touch, and maybe to have lunch once a week now that he works close by.

On the way home my cell-phone rang, it was my sister; At the crossing of University and Atlantic the familiar lights of a police cruiser lights, those beautiful flashing light that I like so much, got behind me, and I closed the phone; My sister would have to wait.

The officer told me I had run past a red light, and I told him the light was yellow when crossed.

He asked for ID's, and went to the cruiser to check them.

Deep Purple was playing on my CD, and the officer came back to my window and asked if I would mind rolling the sleeve of my clothing in my right arm, and to turn it this way and the other way, so he could look over it.

He thank me for the cooperation and went back to his police car.

And then another police car came, with the lights flashing too, and it parked next to the other one.

Crossing a light, two police cars? Something was up.

From the other car a police woman came to my car and asked me if I had been or lived in LA? And I told her no.

She asked me if I had been drinking, and I told her, I had a beer with a friend about an hour back and the rest of them were in the back seat.

She left and I waited.

The music changed to Cat Stevens.

She asked about the bag near me, and I told her it was a burger for my wife, who was waiting for me, and probably very hungry.

And then the policeman came, with two tickets.

He told me that there was no fault on the light; And there would be no penalty for that.

As for the beer in the car, he gave me a ticket, and advise for the future, if I happen be stopped again, let that officer know that, there is another person in LA with my name.

That guy is bad news.

When I signed the ticket the officer said, "You have an interesting signature, Mr Rodriguez"

I hope that guy in LA doesn't do it the same, I told him.

 Before he left me be free again.

After that I drove home, tired.

A long day made longer by another light.

Mikki got her burger later when I got home.

She ate it as soon as she saw it.

I did not tell her, and, she doesn't know why she waited so long.

One thing I know.

The guy in LA don't know her.

They are everywhere!

And they are abnormaly normal just like you and me, unless you are, well, abnormal.

The notion that these people do their fighting in Stadiums and Arenas should be given up for good.

Gladiators fought to live; The new gladiators live and fight to enjoy a daily routine that will get them to old age.

Today a large segment of the world views athletes as the new breed of them.

And many of them are deserving too. But not to the extreme of idolatry. That is too much.

Soldires are not gladiators, they are warriors!

My gladiators come from many walks of life, and they fight for what is right and good, and sometimes, for trophies too!

Fathers who work two jobs, and mothers who do the same to make ends meet, they are gladiators.

Lovers who know why they love, who they love. That kind of bliss, makes them great gladiators.

The kid with a dream, that is told not to try to make a reality of it because going for it seems too hard, and goes for it, he is a gladiator.

Many of them get to fulfill what they shot for.

Some fall short, but not for lack of effort, they too, are gladiators.

The new breed.

So, for those who are trying to do it, who have done it, and who did it, I salute you!!

I am glad to be surrounded by you.

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Dedicated to those that make the most sense having in my life, because, it makes sense to have them in it.

Mikki.............for loving me

Jass, for finding Jimmy.

Ken and Sheryl for going ga-ga, everytime they like into each others eyes.!

We sat in my room.

And we talked.

And he told me things about tomorrow.

His tomorrow.

What he likes, what he thinks, what he wants.

Young as he is, he feels he can acomplish all his dreams.

I told him to go for all that, and then, if he feels like it, more.

Knowing him, he will.

Alex, he got it.

My nephew is going to make it.

All these dreams, and all the thoughts of it.

They are not a dream, they are goals.