2070
Title
2070
Creator
Emely Lopez
Date
04/17/2023
Text
Emely Lopez
Professor Cahill
ENC 1102
17 April 2023
It is July 11th, 2070, just a couple more months until the happily married couple is able to celebrate their 15th anniversary. This celebration has been greatly anticipated for years now, mainly because of the struggles they’ve had to encounter throughout this journey. The life of Maria and Jose back in the 2050s was a hardship that challenged them immensely. They both come from very similar backgrounds where they’ve always had to work twice as hard as the average person. Maria was both born and raised in Dominican Republic, same way as Jose was. As the days go by, Maria begins to analyze how much they’ve accomplished throughout their years together.
“Babe, do you remember the days where we used to kill ourselves working double jobs just to put food on the table” says Maria to Jose. “I remember constantly seeing my parents suffer, tears dropping down their faces, while running on no sleep… a truly terrible way to live as a child” replies Jose. Having to always work for everything helped both of us grow thicker skin and not ever take anything for granted. Although coming to this country as young immigrants chasing a greater life was a blessing, it was also a curse. These two came into Miami with a perspective that opportunities came in left and right. However, the mistake was on them to believe it would come without a cost. The difference in culture was a drastic shock since their biggest challenge was due to their distinct language. Jose thinks back to his high school days when he approached a young fellow classmate for help to get to his next class, and said “hello, where is the room 2201”,the second the high schooler hears Jose’s accent, the instant judgement in his eyes said it all and he responded with “go back to where you came from, trust me you’re better off”. After this encounter Jose was left in complete disbelief and struggled tremendously to get around.
As Maria and Jose took the time to reminisce on what life was like before the success came into place, they stop and assure themselves how proud they are of each other for never giving up. Now they look at their set of twins, lily and leo, and grin from ear to ear as they send them off to college to begin their own set of ups and downs. Growing up on such a harsh lifestyle, Jose makes a promise to himself, “Whatever my destiny has in store for me I will bring my biggest efforts to make certain that my children in the future won’t ever have to struggle the way I did”. This promise has stuck with him throughout the entire 18 years of being a parent. One final little sendoff to help push them into their new journey was the purchase of two new jetskis to help them get around. As both lily and leo recently got their boating licenses, they can finally put it into use as they will need it to get to school and work. “My Lilybug, is and has always been my angel baby, so when we surprised her with her new ride she froze and was in complete shock. While on the other hand, my handsome but rebellious son was the total opposite” Both kids are eternally grateful for how much sacrifice their parents continue to put onto everything they do in accordance to them and hope to someday repay the same amount.
The new school year is starting and the twins are eager to start this new chapter, well really only lily. As mentioned previously, leo isn’t their brightest kid. Instead of being in school he’d much rather spend his time either on video games or playing baseball, which is all fun and games until reality actually hits. “My boy, grew up on always striving to be the best in whatever he does, every sport he came across, he held his head high and never came out as second best. My lilybug would strive in the same way but instead of sports my little overachiever would endeavor in anything relation to academics”. The same way the twins are beyond grateful for the parents they have, so are the parents. They are blessed to finally have the life they desperately wished for throughout so many dreadful nights.
The first day of class came and the twins rode off with their new jetskis as they waved goodbye from a far. Lily was happier than a bee because not only was she reunited with her classmates but she was learning what she loves most, medicine. On the way back home, she went on and on with how much she missed it and is so glad to be back while not letting poor leo even get a word in. As the kids enter their house, the small ornaments and decorations for their parents big day is laying around everywhere and the living room is just getting fuller as the countdown gets smaller. While the twins settle in from a long day at school, Leo rushes to turn on his play station while maria runs to say hi to her pops. As she enters her dads room she sees him extremely focused, head down, back bent over, while writing his thoughts away. Maria asks, “hi papi, what are you working on”, he answers with, “oh my lily bug, one day I can’t wait for you to experience this feeling, that I feel right now. There is absolutely nothing better than getting the chance to express the amount of love and appreciation you have for someone”. As soon as Lily heard those words come out, she instantly reached over for a hug to whisper,
“thank you for being a true representation of what to aspire for, and for always loving so hard”.
Time is passing by and the days are becoming shorter and shorter, it’s only two days until the big celebration and Jose’s brothers, Marco and Mario decide on having a “guys day” to congratulate Jose for accomplishing 15 years with the love of his life. Once arriving to their small little island, they begin to sip a couple of beers and conversations begin to become tenser. As it is only the brothers, there is more confidentiality. Mario has always had a smart mouth and never really held a filter when it came to family. As the boys are talking about one another’s success and accomplishments after moving from DR, Mario interrupts and looks at Jose, who he's always been compared to, and questions him by replying “why did you forget about us when we moved here?, why did you leave us to suffer on our own?, when you were living the good life with Maria about to buy your first houseboat, did we ever come in mind?”. Jose tries to hear his brother out but can’t bare to reply in the same manner, “I had no choice but to start my own life here, we came from nothing over there and suffered a tremendous amount so when I moved here I promised things would be different”. Jose continues to explain that the only reason it seemed as if he left them was due to the fact that when Mario was in DR, and their family was struggling with coping from the death of their father, Mario became very lazy. In a way as much as it hurt Jose to say, he didn’t want to be stuck or held back, and he felt that with his brother’s mentality he’d end up back to square one. As he finishes explaining this, with alcohol involved this didn’t go down lightly. Mario stands up abruptly and starts hitting Jose, while shouting, “YOU DESERVE A TERRIBLE LIFE” “YOU ARE SELFISH” “YOU DON’T EVER DESERVE TO BE HAPPY”, etc. Marco rushes to break them up and yells ENOUGH! He tries to calm them down but Mario was heated and no longer in need of a so-called “guys day”. Mario quickly starts up the engine and races to get back.
It is already pitched black, and the boys are sitting in silence on the way back home to Jose’s houseboat. Mario is the big man in charge, as he decided on driving the boat off of anger. It reaches the point where the boat is going over 120 mph and suddenly hits against such a sturdy rock that all three boys were launched flying out of the boat from the unexpected impact. As Marco gasps up for air while screaming for help, he looks over to his side and spots Mario barely floating up. He quickly swims over, and they both reach onto their boat, however no sign of Jose whatsoever. Both boys were able to find their way back on the boat but couldn’t wrap their head around the fact that what Mario said could’ve been the last thing he told him. Hours passed by and they were still desperately yelling out for Jose. As the third hour unfortunately hits and still no sign of him, all the hope they had restored went out the window, with tears dropping down their face and an even more silence than before the crash. The instant shock both brothers witnessed was indescribable and a trauma that will forever be engraved in them. Mario suffered this death more than anyone mainly because the last words he said to his only older brother was “you don’t deserve to be happy”. Leaving things in that manner is a regret he’ll hold onto for years on end. As the boys arrive to the Lopez’s house boat, they break the news to the people he loved most of all, his girls and son. Maria refused to take it in and shakenly runs outside to their family boat. As she walks up to it and sees the dense scratches and blood dripping all over, she drops down to her knees and screams in fear, trying to accept the fact that she just lost her best friend forever.
The date was November 3rd when this tragedy occurred and no one knew how to act upon it. It was just a day before they reached their 15 years of marriage. Jose was loved by so many that it didn’t only hurt Maria but everyone he came across in his life. However, after hearing the news, the one who suffered immensely was his precious lily. She was always the closest to him that when reality hit of losing such a special person in her life, it absolutely destroyed her. The lily that was always so kind and well behaved was no longer around. Her personality had a total off switch that not even her own twin could help her out. She entered any parents’ worst nightmare to say the least. As the realization settled in day by day, she mentalized herself that without her dad she is no one. This false mentality led her to smoking weed on the daily, isolating herself emotionally from her family, and skipped school more than ever before. This recurring behavior was ongoing for months after Jose’s death and no one was able to control her. Maria was the one who suffered a tremendous amount due to all the pressure being on her now. As hard as it was to move on, Maria had no choice but to do it for the family she sacrificed so much for. Throughout this hardship in their life, maria was once again working double jobs so her kids can still tend to the schools they’ve always wanted. Maria tried in cultivating her kids into sticking to the same traditions they once used to do. Leo was more of a mommas boy and never left his moms side after this tragedy, however lily on the other hand went MIA as the kids call it now a days. She would constantly skip family dinners, sleep through sunday church days, and choose her friends over her family any day.
Throughout all of this, Maria never failed to put a smile on her face in representation of hoping for a happy family again. When in reality, the amount of stress she was put through caused her to go into a deeper depression than what she was already in. Maria would refuse to turn to family, friends, colleagues, etc due to the judgement from others thinking she would not ever be good enough. Growing up Hispanic was the reason for why maria never spoke about her struggles. Her parents raised her on never letting those around you know what you’re going through or envisioning. It was a strong statement that she stuck by and just simply had to suffer alone for months on end.
Once it reached four months since after the worst day of the Lopez family’s life Maria began to find peace within herself. She cried for days on end, and suffered more by seeing her kids do the same. She believed that even though her loving husband was no longer there physically, she always had him by her side spiritually. As everyone is slowly moving on from this tragedy, it is expected that the one who refuses to do so of course is precious little lily. One day as she goes to bed on a random Sunday, lily awakens with a sudden rush of water dripping down her forehead and a heart pounding outside her chest. She quickly turns to drink water and take in the nightmare she just witnessed. Once she caught her breath again, she began to analyze what had just happened. In her vision, her mom was desperately yelling for help all the way from the kitchen counter but instead of English, she was speaking in Spanish, “AYUDAME HIJA, AYUDAME”, lily ignored the screams because she assumed her brother would go help her since he always has. However, the screams never stopped so she went down to see what it was. As she is walking, the screams come to a stop, and she sees her mom lying dead on the floor. Lily’s whole heart shattered into pieces as she imagined another parent leave her life. This small glimpse helped lily finally open her eyes and see how she’s not appreciating what she has right in front of her. Never taking the time to check up on her mom, or ever validate her feelings after the tragedy of her father was a mistake she’ll regret forever. The thought of losing another major piece of her heart, hurt her immensely, which made lily further realize that if she is not present for maria now, later it’ll be too late.
This eye-opening moment was much needed for not only lily but her family as well. She began to finally find her own peace within God and ask him for forgiveness as she claims she was not herself throughout this calamity. Along the way, she made it a routine to check up on not only her mom but her brother as well. Maria never thought she would witness a life where lily was back to her old self. As lily made sure to take the time to check up on everyone in her circle, the only person she was missing was her adoring pops. So, she looks up to the sky, on an extremely bright sunny day, with butterflies surrounding her presence and hears in her dads voice, “you are my strongest soldier, now take care of your people, you were meant for this life my lily bug”.
Professor Cahill
ENC 1102
17 April 2023
It is July 11th, 2070, just a couple more months until the happily married couple is able to celebrate their 15th anniversary. This celebration has been greatly anticipated for years now, mainly because of the struggles they’ve had to encounter throughout this journey. The life of Maria and Jose back in the 2050s was a hardship that challenged them immensely. They both come from very similar backgrounds where they’ve always had to work twice as hard as the average person. Maria was both born and raised in Dominican Republic, same way as Jose was. As the days go by, Maria begins to analyze how much they’ve accomplished throughout their years together.
“Babe, do you remember the days where we used to kill ourselves working double jobs just to put food on the table” says Maria to Jose. “I remember constantly seeing my parents suffer, tears dropping down their faces, while running on no sleep… a truly terrible way to live as a child” replies Jose. Having to always work for everything helped both of us grow thicker skin and not ever take anything for granted. Although coming to this country as young immigrants chasing a greater life was a blessing, it was also a curse. These two came into Miami with a perspective that opportunities came in left and right. However, the mistake was on them to believe it would come without a cost. The difference in culture was a drastic shock since their biggest challenge was due to their distinct language. Jose thinks back to his high school days when he approached a young fellow classmate for help to get to his next class, and said “hello, where is the room 2201”,the second the high schooler hears Jose’s accent, the instant judgement in his eyes said it all and he responded with “go back to where you came from, trust me you’re better off”. After this encounter Jose was left in complete disbelief and struggled tremendously to get around.
As Maria and Jose took the time to reminisce on what life was like before the success came into place, they stop and assure themselves how proud they are of each other for never giving up. Now they look at their set of twins, lily and leo, and grin from ear to ear as they send them off to college to begin their own set of ups and downs. Growing up on such a harsh lifestyle, Jose makes a promise to himself, “Whatever my destiny has in store for me I will bring my biggest efforts to make certain that my children in the future won’t ever have to struggle the way I did”. This promise has stuck with him throughout the entire 18 years of being a parent. One final little sendoff to help push them into their new journey was the purchase of two new jetskis to help them get around. As both lily and leo recently got their boating licenses, they can finally put it into use as they will need it to get to school and work. “My Lilybug, is and has always been my angel baby, so when we surprised her with her new ride she froze and was in complete shock. While on the other hand, my handsome but rebellious son was the total opposite” Both kids are eternally grateful for how much sacrifice their parents continue to put onto everything they do in accordance to them and hope to someday repay the same amount.
The new school year is starting and the twins are eager to start this new chapter, well really only lily. As mentioned previously, leo isn’t their brightest kid. Instead of being in school he’d much rather spend his time either on video games or playing baseball, which is all fun and games until reality actually hits. “My boy, grew up on always striving to be the best in whatever he does, every sport he came across, he held his head high and never came out as second best. My lilybug would strive in the same way but instead of sports my little overachiever would endeavor in anything relation to academics”. The same way the twins are beyond grateful for the parents they have, so are the parents. They are blessed to finally have the life they desperately wished for throughout so many dreadful nights.
The first day of class came and the twins rode off with their new jetskis as they waved goodbye from a far. Lily was happier than a bee because not only was she reunited with her classmates but she was learning what she loves most, medicine. On the way back home, she went on and on with how much she missed it and is so glad to be back while not letting poor leo even get a word in. As the kids enter their house, the small ornaments and decorations for their parents big day is laying around everywhere and the living room is just getting fuller as the countdown gets smaller. While the twins settle in from a long day at school, Leo rushes to turn on his play station while maria runs to say hi to her pops. As she enters her dads room she sees him extremely focused, head down, back bent over, while writing his thoughts away. Maria asks, “hi papi, what are you working on”, he answers with, “oh my lily bug, one day I can’t wait for you to experience this feeling, that I feel right now. There is absolutely nothing better than getting the chance to express the amount of love and appreciation you have for someone”. As soon as Lily heard those words come out, she instantly reached over for a hug to whisper,
“thank you for being a true representation of what to aspire for, and for always loving so hard”.
Time is passing by and the days are becoming shorter and shorter, it’s only two days until the big celebration and Jose’s brothers, Marco and Mario decide on having a “guys day” to congratulate Jose for accomplishing 15 years with the love of his life. Once arriving to their small little island, they begin to sip a couple of beers and conversations begin to become tenser. As it is only the brothers, there is more confidentiality. Mario has always had a smart mouth and never really held a filter when it came to family. As the boys are talking about one another’s success and accomplishments after moving from DR, Mario interrupts and looks at Jose, who he's always been compared to, and questions him by replying “why did you forget about us when we moved here?, why did you leave us to suffer on our own?, when you were living the good life with Maria about to buy your first houseboat, did we ever come in mind?”. Jose tries to hear his brother out but can’t bare to reply in the same manner, “I had no choice but to start my own life here, we came from nothing over there and suffered a tremendous amount so when I moved here I promised things would be different”. Jose continues to explain that the only reason it seemed as if he left them was due to the fact that when Mario was in DR, and their family was struggling with coping from the death of their father, Mario became very lazy. In a way as much as it hurt Jose to say, he didn’t want to be stuck or held back, and he felt that with his brother’s mentality he’d end up back to square one. As he finishes explaining this, with alcohol involved this didn’t go down lightly. Mario stands up abruptly and starts hitting Jose, while shouting, “YOU DESERVE A TERRIBLE LIFE” “YOU ARE SELFISH” “YOU DON’T EVER DESERVE TO BE HAPPY”, etc. Marco rushes to break them up and yells ENOUGH! He tries to calm them down but Mario was heated and no longer in need of a so-called “guys day”. Mario quickly starts up the engine and races to get back.
It is already pitched black, and the boys are sitting in silence on the way back home to Jose’s houseboat. Mario is the big man in charge, as he decided on driving the boat off of anger. It reaches the point where the boat is going over 120 mph and suddenly hits against such a sturdy rock that all three boys were launched flying out of the boat from the unexpected impact. As Marco gasps up for air while screaming for help, he looks over to his side and spots Mario barely floating up. He quickly swims over, and they both reach onto their boat, however no sign of Jose whatsoever. Both boys were able to find their way back on the boat but couldn’t wrap their head around the fact that what Mario said could’ve been the last thing he told him. Hours passed by and they were still desperately yelling out for Jose. As the third hour unfortunately hits and still no sign of him, all the hope they had restored went out the window, with tears dropping down their face and an even more silence than before the crash. The instant shock both brothers witnessed was indescribable and a trauma that will forever be engraved in them. Mario suffered this death more than anyone mainly because the last words he said to his only older brother was “you don’t deserve to be happy”. Leaving things in that manner is a regret he’ll hold onto for years on end. As the boys arrive to the Lopez’s house boat, they break the news to the people he loved most of all, his girls and son. Maria refused to take it in and shakenly runs outside to their family boat. As she walks up to it and sees the dense scratches and blood dripping all over, she drops down to her knees and screams in fear, trying to accept the fact that she just lost her best friend forever.
The date was November 3rd when this tragedy occurred and no one knew how to act upon it. It was just a day before they reached their 15 years of marriage. Jose was loved by so many that it didn’t only hurt Maria but everyone he came across in his life. However, after hearing the news, the one who suffered immensely was his precious lily. She was always the closest to him that when reality hit of losing such a special person in her life, it absolutely destroyed her. The lily that was always so kind and well behaved was no longer around. Her personality had a total off switch that not even her own twin could help her out. She entered any parents’ worst nightmare to say the least. As the realization settled in day by day, she mentalized herself that without her dad she is no one. This false mentality led her to smoking weed on the daily, isolating herself emotionally from her family, and skipped school more than ever before. This recurring behavior was ongoing for months after Jose’s death and no one was able to control her. Maria was the one who suffered a tremendous amount due to all the pressure being on her now. As hard as it was to move on, Maria had no choice but to do it for the family she sacrificed so much for. Throughout this hardship in their life, maria was once again working double jobs so her kids can still tend to the schools they’ve always wanted. Maria tried in cultivating her kids into sticking to the same traditions they once used to do. Leo was more of a mommas boy and never left his moms side after this tragedy, however lily on the other hand went MIA as the kids call it now a days. She would constantly skip family dinners, sleep through sunday church days, and choose her friends over her family any day.
Throughout all of this, Maria never failed to put a smile on her face in representation of hoping for a happy family again. When in reality, the amount of stress she was put through caused her to go into a deeper depression than what she was already in. Maria would refuse to turn to family, friends, colleagues, etc due to the judgement from others thinking she would not ever be good enough. Growing up Hispanic was the reason for why maria never spoke about her struggles. Her parents raised her on never letting those around you know what you’re going through or envisioning. It was a strong statement that she stuck by and just simply had to suffer alone for months on end.
Once it reached four months since after the worst day of the Lopez family’s life Maria began to find peace within herself. She cried for days on end, and suffered more by seeing her kids do the same. She believed that even though her loving husband was no longer there physically, she always had him by her side spiritually. As everyone is slowly moving on from this tragedy, it is expected that the one who refuses to do so of course is precious little lily. One day as she goes to bed on a random Sunday, lily awakens with a sudden rush of water dripping down her forehead and a heart pounding outside her chest. She quickly turns to drink water and take in the nightmare she just witnessed. Once she caught her breath again, she began to analyze what had just happened. In her vision, her mom was desperately yelling for help all the way from the kitchen counter but instead of English, she was speaking in Spanish, “AYUDAME HIJA, AYUDAME”, lily ignored the screams because she assumed her brother would go help her since he always has. However, the screams never stopped so she went down to see what it was. As she is walking, the screams come to a stop, and she sees her mom lying dead on the floor. Lily’s whole heart shattered into pieces as she imagined another parent leave her life. This small glimpse helped lily finally open her eyes and see how she’s not appreciating what she has right in front of her. Never taking the time to check up on her mom, or ever validate her feelings after the tragedy of her father was a mistake she’ll regret forever. The thought of losing another major piece of her heart, hurt her immensely, which made lily further realize that if she is not present for maria now, later it’ll be too late.
This eye-opening moment was much needed for not only lily but her family as well. She began to finally find her own peace within God and ask him for forgiveness as she claims she was not herself throughout this calamity. Along the way, she made it a routine to check up on not only her mom but her brother as well. Maria never thought she would witness a life where lily was back to her old self. As lily made sure to take the time to check up on everyone in her circle, the only person she was missing was her adoring pops. So, she looks up to the sky, on an extremely bright sunny day, with butterflies surrounding her presence and hears in her dads voice, “you are my strongest soldier, now take care of your people, you were meant for this life my lily bug”.
Collection
Citation
Emely Lopez, “2070,” Everything Speaks To Me , accessed September 18, 2026, https://everythingspeakstome.com/items/show/215.