Of course, Maritza and her band took the first place home along with all the flowers around the theater probably that they had a hard time fitting everything into the school bus. Maritza was soon approached by countless of music labels and offers for her to perform in different places to her homeland of Italy. Her mother and father embraced her as they told her how proud they were of her. But, what she needed the most was the embrace of her grandmother that now was gone. Tears rolled down her eyes as she combed her beautiful hair. It was her grandmother who had showed her much love as she waited in Italy among the farm animals and the beautiful sunsets after the summer rains. There her grandmother sang to her as she ran her ancient fingers through her hair. Maritza would fall asleep in her
grandmother’s lap and when she would open her eyes there her grandmother would be by her side with a hot cup of lemon tea and honey. When her grandmother died she was sent to America to the small room that all her family shared when she was eleven. The noisy city had scared her at first with shouting merchants and angry drivers that would honk the lost little girl as she made her way to the little school where she tried to learn English among the other recent immigrants. She did not feel herself and she felt probably worse than a four-year-old child that was lost in the fair. Her thoughts were longer hers as she had to learn new ways to express herself. No more sweetness and innocence. No more funny jokes or games on words. English was a cold and harsh language.
After a few years of doom, Maritza’s family luck changed. They moved to a better neighborhood where the houses had real lawns and where there were big open places with trees and playgrounds where kids played and where Maritza learned to ride the bike in the long summer days with her father. She felt as a heavyweight had been lifted from her and she was finally breathing again and was once again in some way closer to nature. She even began her High School years with a bus that took her from door to door. Maritza was better with her English but not as native but she surprised most her teachers with her fast learning in other subjects and also with her deep English compositions that surprised all. She was embarrassed when a teacher would read a paragraph out loud for everyone to hear and the teacher would say how proud of her they all were. Because not only did a non-native girl from another country had done better than them but she had done it at a college level of writing. Of course, it was all thanks to her private tutors and the constant insistence of both doctor parents that now had a little clinic for Old Italian seniors in the Old Italian district. At first, her parents were afraid of investing all their savings into the little clinic but in the end, it paid off as more and more people heard about them. Soon, they would have to move to a bigger place and after the Christmas events.
Continues: Last Song Part II
