LOVE FOR THE EASTSIDE
LOVE FOR THE EASTSIDE
By Shane Cota
It’s 1992
I’m happy with my family
we reside at 300 south king road
I am 8 yrs. Old
And I remember so vividly
Waking up on Saturday Mornings
Mama hanging the laundry out on the line
I’d grab a fistful of change
With the excitement
To run down the street
To the Pink Elephant store
To buy ice creams and candies
My sister and I with a note from my father for Eddie the cashier
“Give my kids my smokes and beer”
And because everyone knows everyone
He obliges
Returning home
Our neighbor Ernie
Mows the lawn
“Be kind” mama says
Because he’s a slow thinking man.
So mama lets him know that he did a good job and hands him a $20
Ernie only asked for $5
But thats what we do
We take care of our own
“My sister and I with a note from my father for Eddie the cashier,
“Give my kids my smokes and beer”
And because everyone knows everyone.”
And some days
I remember walking two doors down
To Santos’ house
A little lady who was the neighborhood abuela
We’d borrow a cup of sugar or two eggs
And although Santos never asked for anything in exchange
Mama would repay her the next time Santos needed flour or cooking oil
And during christmas
We heard the knocking at the door
Someone has brought us freshly made tamales and a pot full of menudo
My Tia Virgie
Who lived down the street comes over with pan dulce
Because thats what we do
We show love by feeding our brothers and sisters in the neighborhood
We keep that neighborly spirit alive
That seems like its from a time that is gone by
But that’s what makes us special
We care for one another
I reminisce about the simple days we’d go to the Tropicana shopping center for haircuts
My father knew the barbers
My sisters would shop at J.J newberry to find scrunchies and banana clips
I reminisce about the days when I played with the kids on the block
Spending our summer days
Rollerblading, riding bikes, Water fights with super soakers, setting up slip n slides in the front yard
Or running through the sprinklers.
None of us had money to take vacations, but we didn’t need to
We had adventures in our own front yards
And thats what makes us grateful
Coming from having little
“None of us had money to take vacations, but we didn’t need to
We had adventures in our own front yards”
And understanding what it means to care for one another
And on those warm summer nights
We’d watch the cruisers go by
Listening to hot 97.7 on the front porch
Grabbing a burger and milkshake from King’s burgers
Honking when drive under the overpass
-you know the one
Listening to the echo of car horns as everyone honked back
Telling my Dad
“Do it now daddy! Honk now!”
It was thrilling as we sped through
I wish those days would last forever
And although
Mama has gone on to heaven
Along with Santos
My father And my Tia Virgie
And many of us kids from the block
Have lost touch
I know we keep those lessons alive
I know wherever any one of us has moved to
We are still that neighbor that will feed you if you’re hungry
We will give you whatever we can if we have it
And those lessons,
that neighborhood love
Will always be between us
“Listening to the echo of car horns as everyone honked back
Telling my Dad,
“Do it now daddy! Honk now!” ”