Always Remember to Say ‘I Love You’

“Funny the things you thought you’d never miss, in a world gone crazy as this”
-Tim McGraw

After 87 years of life, my Papa passed away last week. His was the first funeral I’ve ever been to, as he is the first person in my life to die who was close to me. It was sad, of course, and everyone cried, but it was overwhelming to see how many people Papa had become acquaintances with in his life. There were over 400 people in attendance. It’s amazing to me to think about how many people we meet and make an impact on in our lives without realizing it.

Everyone I talked to at the funeral had a memory to share about Papa. Papa had a habit of telling his long winded life stories to everyone he met, especially to us grandchildren. Every time I’d see him, he had another story about his success to tell me to inspire me to work hard for what I want. His stories were sometimes boring, sometimes repetitive, always long, but they were all with good intention. He was a hard working man. He put in effort to give his children (5 of them!) the best quality of life he could, and his good spirit rubbed off on them. They all work just as hard as he did to make sure their families can have good lives. He also loved my Nana more than anything, and he was a great example as to how a guy should treat me. He may have been a little crazy sometimes, but he really was a good man. Despite how his stories seemed to go on forever, I wish I could hear one right now.

Luckily, I have a pretty close knit family. We all have each other’s backs and it was nice to have everyone together to celebrate the life of a man we all loved. It’s good to realize what a great support system we have just in our family, even if we can only all get together once or twice each year.

In the last few weeks of his life, my mom called me and told me he wasn’t doing well, and I regret not calling him to say a proper goodbye. Honestly, I didn’t think he was actually going to pass away before I got home for spring break and it just didn’t cross my mind to call. So, I hope this post can inspire you to call your grandparents, your parents — anyone you love but haven’t talked to for a while. Ask them how their lives are going, listen to their stories, be fully present in the conversation. Before you hang up, tell them you love them. You never know when you’ll talk to someone you love for the last time.

Have a good week!

Love,

Rebekah Joya

New Beginnings

“Tell me, what is it that you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
~Mary Oliver

I’ve been putting off starting this blog for weeks. Or I guess more realistically, for years. All through my life, I’ve tried to keep track of memories through journals, pictures, videos, collections, everything. I finally decided it’s time to start a real blog, so welcome to Cities and Waves.

Originally, I wasn’t going to start this until I began Semester at Sea in September (more on that in a second) but I decided that with my patterns in the past, I better try to get in the habit of writing weekly before that, as it’ll probably take me a while to get into the routine.

Anyways, Semester at Sea. From September to December I’ll be spending 104 days living on a boat, visiting 13 cities in 12 different countries. Honestly, it’s scary to think about. I’ll be missing a term of college in my own city, which isn’t a big deal but it feels like it is. It feels like I’ve only been in Philly for a few weeks at most, and I’m still meeting new people everyday. To leave my new city and friends and comfortable life for 6 months when I just got here… it’s scary. But I know I’m going to have an amazing adventure, and when I come back my friends will be excited to see me again and I’ll fall back into the flow of things. It’s just always intimidating to take a step away from something you’re not at all ready to leave yet, even if you know you’ll be coming back. Especially if that step takes you about 4,000 miles away from everything you know.

The title Cities and Waves has two meanings. Firstly, I’m from the Bahamas but now I’m living in a big ol’ city. I constantly find myself caught between my laid-back island ways and the hustle and bustle of Philadelphia. It’s a wonderful place to be, but it can also be overwhelming at times. Secondly, since this blog was originally for Semester a Sea, I’ll be living on a boat then and seeing a ton of different places. Visiting cities, living on the waves, get it?

It’s important to take risks no matter how scared you are. You’ll never know what’ll end up being the best experience of your life. I hope you’ll have fun reading about my adventures throughout the rest of the year, and good luck in any adventures you go on yourself.

Happy (almost) Easter!

Love,

Rebekah Joya