Christian Arambula

A Roman Holiday
The minute I sat down for lunch that summer day in Rome and felt my mothers piercing
gaze I knew it wasn’t going to end well. My mother and I don’t have the smoothest relationship
mostly due to our drastically different views and that day tensions were already high for some
reason I can’t be bothered to remember. We were about halfway through our tour of Europe and
the constant traveling and lack of sleep had made us more irritable than usual. I had wanted to
sleep instead of eating with my family but was forced downstairs to the hotel’s restaurant,
nonetheless.
I was half asleep and ordered what I assumed was steak due to the menu being in
Italian. The plates soon arrived, and I was surprised to receive a dish that looked more like raw
bacon than steak. I initially thought they got my order wrong and once I was told that was the
dish I ordered I calmly asked if I could order something else. Which was perfectly rational to the
rest of my family except my mother. She made a snark remark and being the stubborn person
that I am I snapped back. My mother called me some impolite names and I quickly grew angry.
I felt angry tears welling up in my eyes which only served to anger me even more. I started
shaking in anger and made some remarks about her marriage and ability as a mother that I regret
to this day. It was the result of years of anger towards her and her comments on my simple
mistake had finally made me snap. My sister and cousin who had been talking earlier quickly
grew quiet and gawked at me as they had never seen me lose my temper before. My Aunt and
Grandma at the table were shocked and quickly tried to deescalate the situation.
“Now, Christian that’s no way to speak to your mother.” Aunt Jessica said.
My Grandma offered to switch plates with me, and I politely declined and silently
decided to just not eat. I was staring at my mom with such anger as she ate that my Aunt Jessica
interrupted the awkward silence saying ”Stop staring at your mother with such hatred Christian
you’re going to burst a blood vessel”
My mother decided to make another remark and I started ripping into her with everything
I had held back earlier. By the end of it I was shaking harder than ever and although I hadn’t had
an asthma attack in years I started hyperventilating. Later my cousin would tell me she almost
started laughing because of how hard I was shaking and the fact that I turned as red as a tomato.
Funnily enough the waiter came around with the new dish my grandma had ordered for
me in the middle of my breakdown. Thankfully the restaurant was empty besides us but the look
on the waiter’s face as he tried to give me the new plate as I was bright red and shaking makes
me laugh to this day . I mean just imagine you’d been the waiter who had likely started his shift
happy to see there was only one table occupied and could have a relaxing day at work, only to
return to a teenage boy shaking and hyperventilating as he gave his mother the death stare and
the rest of the table staring as they quietly tried to eat.
Following my second outburst my grandma pulled me aside to the patio and we looked at
the sun set over Rome as I talked to her about all the problems I’d been having with my family. I
was embarrassed as I saw her family as perfect with no issues. But then she surprised me, she
began to talk about all the problems she had with her own family. About how her and my
Grandpa were handling the news that their oldest son and his family would be moving back to
Mexico due to their citizenship issues. She comforted me and offered to take me in if I wanted to
move in with her which was comforting in the moment though I knew I wouldn’t.
By the end of the talk I realized that not every family is as picture perfect as it seems and
that I wasn’t the only one who had issues with them. I now knew I could confide in her and that
bottling up my emotions would only lead to another outburst like today .As we left the patio and
walked to our rooms I caught a glimpse of the untouched dish the waiter had given me and I
couldn’t help but laugh.

Explanations
1. Emotional Truth:
a. I think what this memory of mine shows is that you’re never truly alone in any
problems you may have. I assumed I couldn’t talk to anyone about my emotions
which led to me bottling them up for years, which in the end was more self-
destructive than beneficial. I’m still not very good at talking about my emotions
but I’m doing better. The outburst changed my relationship with my mother and
to this day she brings it up. But she’s trying, she’s trying to be better even if at
times I’m not the kindest son in return. For that I’m thankful for this memory no
matter how embarrassing.

2. Story Arc:
a. Exposition: Arriving at the hotel restaurant, tired with my mother staring at me
b. Inciting Incident: My order isn’t what I expect and I ask to order something else
c. Rising Action: My mother making a remark about my decision and my initial
outburst
d. Crisis/Climax: My mother making another remark after I had calmed down and I
finally snap by insulting her and her decisions
e. Falling Action: My grandma takes me outside to the patio and we begin to discuss
my problems
f. Resolution: She speaks to me about her own problems, I realize I’m not alone and
we finally go to our individual hotel rooms.