Above All

-Twenty-Nine-

Success of a wish

Frozen time commanding me

Boats drift eternally

Amani:

My grandmother Zenaida has always been a dignified woman; it's been like this since I was a kid and it still was the same way till this day. Even as we sat down at the table having a traditional Idizian dinner together, my grandma exhibited qualities of a woman who always been raised in a high-class family for generations.

            It was no surprise my mother was the same way herself and taught me to hold myself together just as she had been taught. Both my mother and father's side of the family came from very old money; generations of wealth and estates passed down as far as they could remember, this house was no different, although it had gone through extraneous renovations over the years it was a complete beauty in its earliest days as Uncle Zyair has shown me countless pictures of it back in the early 17th century.

            Grandma Zenaida has always taken pride in who she was and the kind of lifestyle she liked to live, but she never overdid it. She was a sweet and caring person who treated everyone around her with the same respect she would want for herself is she were in the same position; my grandmother also happened to be the best person to come to for advice and overall knowledge of how the world worked and function, I swear she had some sort of six-sense or something of the sort.

            Even as she was getting older, she seemed to exhibit qualities of someone who was full of life. Her dark skin still glowed healthily and vibrantly, her skin did sag around her eyes, cheeks, and neck area but she wore it well. Her hair was grayed and almost always pulled back into either a top or low bun depending on the occasion—today she wore it low. Her lips thinned out over the years as well, but she never ceased wearing her mauve-colored lipstick that she adored; she loved that color so much there was no way she was giving it up.

            Tonight, she was dressed impeccably, despite having dinner with just us, she liked to dress up nicely to give the invisible audience she thought would magically see her a show. I understood why she did it, it was a mentality thing but I think about how in my apartment back in Vancouver how if it were just me that I just threw on a pair of joggers and a matching top and eat on my floor with Sashu... it was the simple things for me at times.

            "Oh, my heart just rings with joy today! Zyair why didn't you tell me my baby Amani was coming!" She scolded my uncle with a slight pat to his arm. He covered his mouth lightly finishing the food he had ingested before speaking, "That's the point of surprises, mom." He replied to her simply.

            She turned back to me and smiled widely, the sags on her face moving up as she did so. "And look how magnificently beautiful she is... just like a vision!" She turned to Rose and kept the same smile. "Her beautiful friend... Rose, is it?" She asked me curiously.

            I nodded, "Grandma... she doesn't speak Idizian." I reminded her.

            Grandma Zenaida corrected herself, "My apologies, Rose... it is a pleasure seeing you again... it has been so long. How is your family?" She asked her curiously.

            I had only taken Rose here to visit my family with me a handful of times, it was always during my sneak trips to Idizia unbeknownst to my parents; the trips were quick and brief but I always made it a point to visit my family. They were the most important thing at the end of the day.

            "That's okay, Grandam Zenaida. It's good seeing you as well and my family is doing just as fine, thank you." She replied to her.

            She nodded, "That's good to hear... I always appreciated how well they raised you. Always dressed so elegantly and you hold yourself in the same manner... we don't see much of that these days." She muttered that last part to herself, I arched my eyebrow I wonder who she was talking about like that.