Lunch Boxes
Went to the dentist today to get my teeth checked and cleaned. My dentist — who's a friend of my dad's — didn't charge me. He's kind. He also told me I should be going to the dentist more often, like at least once a year. And honestly, I haven't been in years. So yeah. I definitely need to go more, and brush my teeth more too. He said I could come back in six months. I really should figure out how to go to a dentist back in the States, since I haven't actually been to one there yet, haha.
Other than that, today was relatively chill. I spent a lot of time learning more about how civilization scale actually appears — first you have bands, then groups of bands, then if cohesion keeps going up, tribes form. Then a big man emerges, then a paramount big man, then those whose power can pass to the next generation become chiefs, then chiefs of chiefs, then proto-states, then full states. Really valuable information for the game. I used my wait time between appointments, plus the hour I spent at the library because I got there early, to really get the picture down. That way I could come home and start coding it in.
I also talked to my grandma more today. She told me she wished she'd been able to study more. At eight years old she had to stop, because her mom passed and she suddenly had to become the mom — for her brothers and sister, and for her own dad. From eight years old. Poor woman.
She worked so hard for so long, raising her three children in poverty. Only in recent years has she had any real money, but by now her health is deteriorating, and so is her mind. At least she's being taken care of by her family now.
I remember how much she took care of me and my brother growing up. She'd come all the way to the east part of the city, just to deliver lunch boxes she'd cooked herself. They were delicious. And she basically raised her own children alone too — including my dad — because my grandpa was kind of a loser. My dad doesn't really like him because of stuff that happened in the past. So she carried all of it, mostly by herself.
Beyond that — families that took from her. Families that put debt on her that she paid off entirely on her own, even though none of it was her fault. She just kept taking on responsibilities because somebody had to, and somehow it was always her. What a life.
She's 91 now. I'm not sure if next time I come back, she'll still be around. So I really need to take the time, while I'm here, to actually be with her. Talk to her. Appreciate her while she's still around.
She's a hero.