Essay #2 Draft

It is easy to get used to things (and people) in life, and not think about what happens if they are taken away. We do not realize how much of an impact people have on us until things change and cause them not to be there all the time. Sometimes it is easy to take things for granted so when they are taken away, we long for those things back and learn to appreciate what we have.
Grandma and grandpa love feeding their grandchildren every time they visit. When I was young, this meant feeding my brothers and me every day. My family used to live in Bloomfield, a town over from Belleville (where my grandparents live). I would see my grandparents each day no matter if it were a school day or a weekend. I enjoyed this because besides the food and money, they would give me great amounts of love whether they saw me once, twice or three times a day. I did not realize how big a role my grandparents played in my life until my family moved to East Brunswick, my current town of residence.
“It’s 11:00, do you know what that means?” my grandfather asked. “Umm, lunch time?” I answered. “Not only that. It’s time to turn on the Price is Right!” It was a ritual my grandfather and I had every weekday. We would sit in front of the television watching the Price is Right while eating our egg pastina soup my grandmother would make for us. It was the best meal of the day! Our favorite part of the show is when the contestants spin the big wheel. My grandfather and I would stop what we were doing and no one would speak until after that part was over. We would always guess what money value the wheel was going to land on. More often than not, we were wrong. However, it was always fun guessing. After we were finished with our egg pastina soup, my grandfather and I would make his famous French toast. It would take us all afternoon to perfect it and to indulge in the goodness of his great recipe. Most of the time I would give up because I was too impatient, too tired or too hungry to actually make the French toast. I always told my grandfather to call me in the other room when he was finished making it. He rarely ever called me because I could smell the delicious fumes from the anywhere in the house and I knew the French toast was finally ready to eat. “Now I want you to eat slowly, otherwise you will get a stomachache. I know how your eyes are always bigger than your stomach, so just take one piece for now,” my grandfather always said. Of course, I would never listen, I was always famished and it smelled so delectable that I took three pieces of French toast at a time. My grandfather was always right, I ended up having a stomachache every time. Nonetheless, that never stopped me for the next time.
Grandma always brought me to the jewelry store with my mother to see Alberto. He was not only their favorite jeweler, but he was also their close friend. I always hated going there because my grandmother and mother would spend hours deciding what to buy, and I would just sit there bored out of my mind. My mother always wanted to bring me there because being her only girl, she thought I would be interested in looking at jewelry. That would work now, but not when I was five. I only cared about going outside to play, I had no interest in looking fancy and having expensive jewelry. My grandmother would see my displeasure sitting there, and would either hurry up or go outside to buy me something. She never liked to see me unhappy, and would do anything to turn that around. If I did not go to the jewelry store with my grandmother and mother, I would stay with my grandfather and we would run some of the errands he had to get done (after lunch and the Price is Right). Some of this was boring as well, but it beat sitting in the jewelry store.
My grandparents and family would go to Willowbrook Mall a lot since it was so close to us. After a whole day of shopping, my grandparents would treat everyone to the best tasting pizza (at the time it was the best), Scotto’s Pizza. Before it went out of business, it was located in the mall so it was convenient for us to go to. I am still convinced to this day the reason it is out of business is because my family does not live near that area anymore, so we stopped going there. We would always give the pizzeria a lot of money because we ordered many pizzas; we have a big family. If we were not in the mood for pizza, my grandparents would take us all to Wendy’s (my grandmother’s favorite fast food joint). We knew it was a good day when we had Wendy’s for lunch, because that meant grandma was feeling well.
I did not realize how much my grandparents were a part of my life until my parents told the family we were moving. I do not recall having this conversation, but I know I was very upset. It meant that I would rarely see my grandparents anymore and I had no one to watch the Price is Right with. We were not moving for a few months, so I did not worry about it too much. I still had a lot of time to spend with my grandparents, so I valued every minute of it.
When we finally moved to East Brunswick, my grandparents said we could come back and visit whenever we wanted, and just because we were far away did not mean we could not see each other anymore. This made me feel better, however we did not get to see them whenever we wanted. Since we moved, we had many things to take care of and we barely had anytime to have fun. I would always ask my mother to go up to see my grandparents and she always said, “Maybe next week. We have many things to do around the house.” It made me upset to think I would barely ever see them again. Suddenly I missed sitting in the jewelry store for hours, and I never thought I could miss going there. Everything my grandparents did for us played repeatedly in my head, and I missed them more than ever.
My grandparents frequently came to visit when we first moved into our new house. They stayed over several times, especially on the big holidays such as Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years’ Eve. I began to think that it would become like old times, and we would be spending a lot of time together. Each time they came to visit, I often forgot they had to drive all the way back home instead of driving around the corner to their house. Every time they left to go back home, I would cry because it felt like a lifetime until I would get to see them again. My mother would calm me down and would take me for a walk around the block to ease my misery. Some of the times it would work, but most of the time it would make me more upset. When my grandparents left to go home, I would run next to their car until they drove too fast for my legs to catch up. After I was out of breath, I would sit on the curb and begin to cry.
I am now much older than when I first moved to where I currently reside. I now realize not everything will always be perfect. Sometimes I wish I could trade the life I have now for the life I had when I was younger. I wish I could have valued the time I spent with my grandparents and appreciate all they did for me when I lived closer to them. That time is now gone, and I can only think of the memories we shared together.
I still see my grandparents, but not frequently like I used to. They come to visit every few weeks, mostly on birthdays or holidays. It is a contrast to a few years ago when they would visit almost every other weekend. They also do not stay over on holidays anymore. It is still difficult to embrace when they leave to go home. Occasionally my family and I go up to Belleville to visit them and take care of chores and errands that need to be done for them. They always appreciate everything we do for them, just like now we appreciate everything they do (and did) for us. When we go up to visit, it is in the morning and my grandmother pulls out waffles, pancakes, toast, orange juice, or any other kind of breakfast food because she loves to see that we are eating well. We still have pizza for lunch, grandma orders from Joey’s who has the best pizza I have ever tasted. It is not Scotto’s, but it tastes just as great. If that does not work, we go to Wendy’s since grandma loves that fast food joint. Some things never change, and some of my childhood is brought back when we visit them and visit the old town I used to live in.
I was so used to living close to my grandparents that seeing them was a daily routine, and I did not think how things would change once I left the town of Bloomfield. Sometimes I do not think my grandparents know how much I appreciate all they have done and still do for me now. They still play a big role and have an impact on my life, even if they do not live as close as I would like them to. I have learned to value what I have and appreciate the good things in life because it is easy to take them for granted, and once things change it is not the same anymore.