Memories of the childhood years, translated…
The storks in Andersen’s stories brought new life to the homes that wanted children; and in reality, I was the money delivery bird, delivered the money to my grandmother who lived away from the cities, that small adventure that I’d had, was such a happy journey that won’t get washed away with the passing of time.
A father of children from a small fishing village, after I’d married and had a daughter, I’d gone into the cities to work, and gave the money my grandparents lived off of by the month, I’d normally delivered the money on the weekends and holidays. It was an age where there was NO credit cards, No ATM’s, so ancient, our wages were handed to us in thick envelopes, and, as we bought the things we want or needed, we’d, counted out the bills, to pay them, there’s, that strong sense of substantiality. Sometimes, when the factory made us work overtime, or my grandmother needed the extra money to buy the items, and my mother couldn’t get away, because she’s looking after our younger siblings, and, it would be us sisters, who’d made the deliveries.
Once when my older sister was about to take a major exam in school, I was only in the fourth grade, and had, gone back to deliver the money to my grandparents on my own. I had on a blue dress decorated with pink stars, white stockings, black shoes, with money and a handkerchief inside my pocket, I’d, walked for twenty minutes from home to the station, and needed to take the greyhound bus for over an hour to where my grandparents lived, and then, I’d had to walk for about five more minutes to finally get to grandmother’s. My mother worried how I was, delivering such huge amounts of money, kept telling me, that I should, keep the money hidden, so, she’d, wrapped up the wads of bills in white handkerchief, then, hidden the package inside my white stockings. Mom was so smart, although, it felt uneasy, having to walk on the money.
I’d walked in smaller steps, didn’t dared hopped around like I normally had, worried, that the money may drop out if I wasn’t, careful enough. I sat at a window seat on the bus, that salty sea breeze made me drowsy, and yet, I’d, worked so hard, to keep my eyes open, worried, that if I dozed off, the money would get stolen from me. As the elderly woman with her false gold teeth struck up conversations with me, I can only, smile at her, to show courtesy, didn’t even dare, to say a word to her. I was, very careful all the way to my grandmother’s, and finally, I arrived, successfully, and the neighbors circled around me, with the envious tones of voices, stated, “Your wonderful son had, sent money back to you again, you must’ve done something wonderful in a past life!”
I’d loved grandmother’s warm smiles, along with the huge bag of cookie as a reward for the deliveries. On my ride home, I’d felt at ease, just, snacked on the items grandma packed for me, and the food crackled between my teeth, that sweetness, put a perfect cadence to my journeys. I’m glad, to be a stork that delivered money, and, the unsettled heart I’d carried on the trip was, turned into pride and joy, I’m glad, that I’m grown, old enough, to help my parents in making their lives easier.
And this is probably, one of the better memories of this woman’s childhood days, because she was the bringer of wonderful things to her grandmother’s house, and, naturally, the grandmother had, welcomed her and rewarded her for delivering of the cash, as ordered by the mother of this woman too.