The Special Places in my Home

Both of these pictures are in the first level of my house. When we first moved in, my mother set then up to show all company that entered our house how proud she was of her parents and children. The first picture is dedicated to my grandparents. On our mantle, when have the flag that we got when my grandfather passed. He was a WWII veteran, so they gave him the proper burial complete with a 21-gun salute and flag for the family. Since that day, we’ve kept his flag in its case as a sign of respect and remembrance for my Pop-Pop. In front of the flag is my grandmother’s urn. She died when I was a sophomore in high school. She requested to be cremated and buried in Jamaica with her mother. My mother followed her wishes and took her ashes to be buried in Jamaica next to her mother. But because she didn’t want to let her mother go completely, she kept just a little bit of her and placed it next to her husband’s flag. So while in our home, my Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop will remain next to each other. The mantle also has other touches of remembrance for my grandparents. Gifts, a grandpa and granddaughter in a rocking chair figurine, native Jamaican wood sculptures, etc., that we bought our grandparents for special holidays are up there, as well as grandma and grandpa Chinese figurines that match our Chinese chest in the Family room. To give the feel of being in at my grandparents’ old house in Florida, my mom puts up pictures from special events in our lives like they used to do (hence why my prom picture and my sister’s, Mayne, high school graduation picture are there).

 The second picture is in my Living room. This is the first room you see when you enter my house. My mother changes this special place in the house every time there is a graduation. No matter who graduates, both Mayne and my picture stay up on the sides of the table; they only change if a new picture is taken. My mom decorates the center of the table with our diploma, graduation program, and any other mementos from that day. Usually, there is a vase of flowers and a lot of glitter on the table (both my sister and I like glitter!). She does this primarily for the party that comes after the graduation; the table remains set up this way until the next graduation. This is my mom’s way of celebrating our accomplishments and appreciating our efforts.

These are pictures of Mayne’s and my room. When we first moved, my mom allowed us to set up our own rooms. We both wanted to celebrate the accomplishments that we had achieved throughout our young lives. We asked our mother to get us bookcases that we could fill with our trophies from track & field, cheerleading, dance, and scholastic honors. As the years went on, we added more trophies and medals from high school. Eventually, we were able to put our varsity letters and graduation caps on display. Mayne’s senior year, our poms team won 3^rd place in short pom and 1^st place in hip-hop at state competition. Since Mayne was our captain, she got to take home the trophies so they sit on the floor by her bed since they were so huge. We look at our trophy cases as a way to celebrate ourselves. Something to show our children of all the honors that we have been awarded.