Tameyah Argudin

The Good Ol’ Reliable

by Tameyah Argudin

I am reliable and driven. I wonder if I'll have a completely different persona when I grow up. I hear my best friend and I gossiping over some boiling hot tea that we got from social media. I see my old self congratulating and cheering me on for my achievements. I want to make my family proud. I am reliable and driven.

I pretend that I'm in a perfect daydream consisting of purple and pink clouds, magical creatures, and some R&B music. I feel for the people who have less than me. I touch the mental scars that were left behind in my head to remind myself of where I came from and where I am now. I worry about how I’ll turn out in the future. I cry when I get stressed over things that aren’t in my power to control. I am reliable and driven.

I understand that life isn't easy. I say keep on going, it’s going to be worth it in the end. I dream for a world with peace. I try to keep my feelings in check, but sometimes I struggle with them. I hope that the world gets better. I am reliable and driven.

How the “Good Ol’ Reliable” Tameyah Came to Be

by Tameyah Argudin

I am from a bunch of clothes, whether it's from laundry or a recent shopping spree, and from the music on Sundays telling my family to get up and clean. I am from the noisiest but connected household, from the lavender Fabuloso that you smell after us cleaning the house. I am from the cherry blossom trees that grow in the spring in my neighborhood, the cherry blossom trees' petals that always leave their mark on the sidewalk.

I'm from the annual 4th of July barbecues that my Aunt throws and the funny jokes that are always being thrown at others

and from my ever-so-curious grandmother and my blunt mother. I'm from the loud music that you hear when someone's in the shower and hearing everyone's phone conversation once they start walking around the house and the ganging up on a family member once they do something idiotic. I'm from being told that turning on lights in the car will get us pulled over by the police and the "I'll give you something to cry about" threats when I'm crying and the old-school music

you'll eventually learn once hearing them on too many "cleaning Sundays". I'm from the birthday parties that always start and end with a bang. I'm from Brookdale Hospital due to myself being too eager to enter the world and the Cuban in me from my father's side and the fried chicken and baked mac & cheese that my mom makes.

From my uncle getting his leg burned by being too close to a firecracker, he was always the crazy uncle, to the family portrait we took for my mom's graduation that's hanging up in the living room. I am from one crazy family, yet the best family I could ever ask for.

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