TILAMOOK CHEESE - Abraham Yeung - Blog Q4 Week 14
A blur. Day after day, staying at home. No school. Not old enough. Eat the same, purple, sweet yet bitter medicine. Those years are long, but feel so short now. The child cannot remember much about their early years. Save for the taste of Tilamook cheese.
The child recounts their life through the accounts of others. The child watches videos of them failing to sing “twinkle twinkle little star.” They see pictures of them in their parents’ arms, in their grandparents’ arms, even though they have no recollection. They see that broken-down Little Tikes cozy coupe in their backyard, and remember that image of them chewing on a dandelion in it, some fifteen-odd years back. Though so many people tell them of their life, the child still cannot remember much, save for the taste of some cheese.
Some memories remain, though. Their father eagerly recounts their first time eating a sandwich together, recorded in low quality video, the child sporting a chubby, toothy grin. They remember eating meatballs made by their grandmother, sitting in their grandparents’ home playing with calabashes. Their mother teaches them math and language. The child is dumb and stupid, and they get scared when their mother gets loud, but deep down, the child knows that out of everything in the world, their mother loves them the most.
The child only has half-memories. The child knows, but never much. But their parents remember.
Their father doesn’t like talking about it. Their mother doesn’t talk much about it, either. It was, after all, the worst month of their lives. But the child doesn’t think it’s much. After all, they don’t remember anything, save for the taste of that stupid cheddar cheese.
Whenever the child goes to the doctor, their father always avoids one room like the plague. The child knows why. The child can only put on a pained grin, and mutter words of acknowledgement. Should the child feel the same as their father? Should they feel more empathy? After all, the child cannot remember.
The child can only remember bits and pieces. Sitting in a half-dark hospital room watching Cars. Going occasionally back to the hospital, waking up to a chunk of cheddar and a bottle of coke. Not much else.
But the child knows. Of their parents’ pain, of their parents' love. So even if the child doesn’t remember all the pain, all the beeping machines and the tireless nights their father spent with them at the hospital bed, they have heard enough. They might not remember their father spending days reviewing thousands of medical pages, reviewing every possible prescription, or watching them buy a geiger counter just to find out that bananas are radioactive, but they have heard enough. Enough to know that no matter how hard it may get, no matter what happens, their parents will give them their eternal, unceasing love. So that even though the child may forget the taste of cheese, and the memories of sandwiches and meatballs, of calabashes and that red and yellow Little Tikes coupe, they will remember the love of their parents.
Tillamook Medium Cheddar Cheese Snack Bars, 10 ct - Shop Cheese at H-E-B
I'm saying this with all seriousness, Tilamook cheddar and a bottle of coke hits really hard for no particular reason. Maybe it's just me, though.
Hey Abraham! I used to love Tilamook cheese until I developed a sudden aversion to cheddar. It’s a bit too strong, too… cheesy. The days of eating Tilamook were nice though—I’ll try it with some coke next time.
ReplyDeleteI loved the way this blog was narrated, with all the lovely details and warm feeling despite the serious situation. Because as memories begin to fade, the only thing left are the emotions that were so vividly present. Those you can’t exactly forget, because you experience them everyday, unlike the yellow cheese that may cause high blood pressure from prolonged consumption. The term “half-memories” was a choice I enjoyed. Moments you can’t exactly remember, can’t explain clearly, but most definitely happened. Hazy recollections that might even be a dream, the specifics only being conjurations of the brain, but the atmosphere being exactly as remembered.
The parents remembering this period but the child not thinking too much of it is also interesting. Are the parents grateful time had naturally shielded them from the dark time? After all, a hospital holding bad memories isn’t exactly ideal. It’s a nice addition to ponder about, whether losing the full perspective of circumstances is a blessing in disguise or not.
Hi, Abraham. Crazy awesome blog this week. I can understand how weird it feels looking back at your younger self and feeling disconnected. I have a bunch of childhood pictures in my living room, and I sometimes feel disoriented realizing that I’m the same person as the little girl in the pictures. It also probably feels disorienting for the parents because they probably hold so much weight and remembrance of us as small children, and we don’t even remember the majority of it. Though I don’t know exactly what happened to you, I’m sorry to hear about it. Hospitals are some of the weirdest places because they give life and also aid people losing it. I think it’s so interesting how people have to learn about their childhoods through outside input like photos and videos, even though they are physically the person that they are supposed to be learning about. However, even if the child doesn’t remember a lot, they do remember their parents’ love. Above all, a child can understand and feel their parents love and sacrifice regardless of specific memories. There are probably so many parts of our lives that our parents hold so dear to their hearts, and we don’t even remember. This also made me appreciate how much my parents do behind the scenes that I will never even know about.
ReplyDeleteYour consistent use of ‘they’ and the narration style being in a kind of limited third person style is really interesting! It sets the characters in a more detached way, making them seem less like people and empahsizing their role as characters, and I wonder if that was intentional or not. Along with that, the story also is very well-written and meaningful! I like how you focus on a more hopeful viewpoint and emphasize on the importance of understanding, since it channels a positive feel and also delivers a lesson to the reader. The incorporation of the title’s seemingly random subject and the story is quite excellent too! Your choice in choosing the title to focus on a background detail is quite inspired and I ponder on why you chose that detail in specific. As well, the choice you made to separate specific sentences as paragraphs really emphasizes key parts of the story and helps it flow smoother.
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