My siblings all have two syllable names. Mine remains a single syllable. My grandmother is the only person I have met who says it using two. I have always admired her for this.
Her visits were seldom, elapsing one week each time. We had the arrangement she would stay in my room and I would move to the basement.
My father and I picked her up from International Arrivals in my ninth summer. While he got her bags, she squeezed my hand and discretely slid a single-serving of Delta Airlines endorsed salted snacks into my palm. Keeping her eyes focused in his direction she may have said something like "there you go".
When the airport doors closed behind us she paused, her tiny frame shivered as she sighed. She clasped her disproportionately sized purse closed and placed it on the ground. My father and I were each given a hug. I stopped brushing at the powder left on my shirt from our embrace when my father handed me the purse.
My grandmother delicately patted her hair into place and then set the pace as the three of us continued on towards the parked car in silence. Her clothes sparkled in the airport's bright lights.
A modest scent of dry cleaning remained in my room long after the week was over.
Her visits were seldom, elapsing one week each time. We had the arrangement she would stay in my room and I would move to the basement.
My father and I picked her up from International Arrivals in my ninth summer. While he got her bags, she squeezed my hand and discretely slid a single-serving of Delta Airlines endorsed salted snacks into my palm. Keeping her eyes focused in his direction she may have said something like "there you go".
When the airport doors closed behind us she paused, her tiny frame shivered as she sighed. She clasped her disproportionately sized purse closed and placed it on the ground. My father and I were each given a hug. I stopped brushing at the powder left on my shirt from our embrace when my father handed me the purse.
My grandmother delicately patted her hair into place and then set the pace as the three of us continued on towards the parked car in silence. Her clothes sparkled in the airport's bright lights.
A modest scent of dry cleaning remained in my room long after the week was over.