Mango Street-- and You, Too Castillo

 

Arturo Castillo

English 1109 1:30-3:30 M-W

9/23/20

 

The House on Mango Street Writing Exercise

The chapter that really got my attention the most was “Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark”. Where the abuelito of Esperanza has died by hearing the news that early morning from her father. Her father cried for the first time in front of his daughter leaving her dazed.  This was a sad and confusing time for Esperanza, and you can tell at the end how she held her father of how she understood the situation even more.

I can relate to how Esperanza and her father felt after having such a loss to them. Back in Feb 2018, I got the news of losing my grandmother who I lived with the majority of my life. It was saddening to lose her, and it really hit me extremely hard more than I ever expected. Her nickname from me was Tita and my abuelo was Tito which I remember reading a name similar in the book which was nice to see. The following day after the news I had to talk to my First Sergeant who got me booked with American Red Cross to fly me home to see my grandmother’s funeral. I landed in Texas and immediately went to her wake, and the following day we cremated her body as she wished.  The item that has sentimental value to me is a fleece I got while being deployed to Qatar because It reminds me of where I was when she passed and who I was with at that time. After a few days I went back to Qatar to go back to work and my flight (co-workers) brought me a cake since I forgot my birthday passed. I will never forget the help from my family and military brothers/sisters.