A REMEMBERED PLACE
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
             I remember all too well the place known to me as my true home. The last time I was there was when I was ten years old. It was closing in on Christmas Vacation 1991 and my mother said that she would take me. It was approximately around the late teens of December when we boarded our plane. British Airways was the airline of our choice as my mother and I was set to depart from John F. Kennedy airport. Our flight took long and because of the difference in time I was never able to tell how long the flight actually took. There is a five-hour time difference between New York and Ghana.
             Ghana, West Africa is where my parents are from. It was always weird for me to go from the deathly cold of New York around Christmas time to the warm humid weather of this land. As I stepped off the plane I took in the breath of the air that was a part of my heritage. I remember going in to the customs area and waiting to collect our luggage as it comes on the conveyer belt. So many people around whom are here with me to take part of going "Home". After we left the airport and were on our way to a place called Larteh. This was the village that my grandmother lived in. I got out of the car and stepped onto the clay dirt that was beneath my feet. I looked up to see the houses of the village and the trees that surrounded it all. We arrived at my grandmother's house and were cheerfully greeted at her house by all of the people who worked in the house and those who take care of her. My mother and I were at our place of residence for the next six weeks in the homeland.
             I had so much fun playing with the other children over these last few weeks. We always had fun playing tag by the river, which was long and glorious. I remember how it looked with green grass, and trees and all of the animals around. My friends and I would go out hunting little creatures like lizards and possums. I guess when you're that young you do a lot of cruel and in...