My Fondest Memory

As a child, while my father was often transferred from one base to another, I once asked myself, what do I remember the most from Puerto Rico? Sure I remembered my first home in Puerto Nuevo, with its fences that seemed 10 feet tall. Only to become a mere six feet upon my return. I also remembered my brother crashing a perfectly good metal car he was riding down the narrow sidewalk in la Calle Dresde against the retaining wall of our home, totally on purpose. Such bizarre behavior always surprised me. I also remembered getting my foot stuck in the spokes of a bicycle, and as a result almost bleeding to death, but I didn't.

Of course those were memories, but not my fondest. My fondest was the wide open sidewalks of El Parque Luis Munoz Rivera. Luis Munoz Rivera was a poet and grand statesman who struggled for Puerto Rican autonomy during the 19th century. He was also father to Luis Munoz Marin the four time governor of Puerto Rico. But to me Luis Munoz Rivera, meant fun and something beautiful. It meant balloons, swings, flowers, slides, and possibly a nice stroll with my brothers and sister down a shady sidewalk, much as it is today. I always remember the sidewalks being as wide as a street, and when I came back, that hadn't changed. I wasn't disappointed. On the contrary, they are still there, with their rustic benches, wide, open, and carefree.