My Summer

My maternal grandmother resides in Phoenix, Arizona. It has been roughly ten years since she relocated there. In fact, I was only 2 years old when she moved from Chicago. It was necessary 
for her to move to a warmer climate, because the winters in Chicago were far too cold for her to handle. She made an appointment with her doctor, who told my grandmother that she could not remain in such a cold climate. My grandmother was extremely disappointed to leave Chicago, especially because her friends and family lived there. However, soon enough she was able to make several new friends in Phoenix. So she was content. 

My mother frequently visits her in wintertime, but unfortunately, I’m unable to go then since I have to be in school. This past summer, though, I went for a lengthy visit. I stayed for the summer. I had never been away from home more than a few days before. 

I traveled by plane to Phoenix, alone, even though I had never flown on an airplane before. My mother cried at the airport, but I was all smiles. What a trip. I smiled all the way. Once we landed, the pilot informed us that it was 110 degrees outside. I thought there was absolutely no way I had heard him clearly. It had never been nearly that hot in Chicago.  

I deplaned and immediately spotted my grandmother. We were both so thrilled that I had finally arrived. She gave me a big, long embrace before we went to retrieve my suitcase from the baggage claim. It took approximately 10 minutes to receive it, and I was getting increasingly worried that the airline had somehow lost my luggage. However, it eventually appeared at the top of the baggage carousel. 

Afterwards, we stepped outside, and I was simply astonished. It felt exactly like walking into a heater. It was hotter than I had ever felt: 110 degrees.  

We walked to the bus stop, and thankfully, the bus came instantly. I boarded the bus and was so relieved that it had come so quickly. Also, the bus was nice and cool since it was airconditioned. It took us nearly 30 minutes to arrive on my grandmother’s block. I didn’t mind the long ride, because it was very interesting to view the city outside the window. I noticed that residents had brown grass, most likely because it had all dried out from the heat. They didn’t have trees, but they did have really large cactus plants.  

When we stepped off the bus, we had to walk an additional three blocks before making it to my grandmother’s apartment. Once again, I felt extremely hot. I turned to my grandmother and asked her, “How can you possibly live in such a hot place?” 

“Oh, you get accustomed to it,” she told me. We adapt. We change the way we organize our day. You’ll see that most people are not out during the sunniest parts of the day. It turned out she was right about that. Although it took a few weeks, I finally adapted to the heat. However, we stayed indoors when it was hottest, and only ventured out in the cooler mornings. In the evenings, it actually felt a little chilly. 

When the summer came to an end, it was time for me to return back home. Yes, my second plane trip. I was sorry to leave my grandmother, and I promised I would return sooner than next summer. My cousin met me at the airport, and she retrieved my suitcase. We both climbed aboard the bus, where she inquired about my trip. I exclaimed, “It is always wonderful to spend time with grandma, but next time I think I’ll go back in winter.” When we got home, I wrote a letter to my grandmother.