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The Song That Tells My Life Story
“En mi Viejo San Juan” by Noel Estrada
From the age of four, I grew up in Puerto Rico. I lived there for thirty-three years. When asked where I’m from, I usually say, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Even though I was born in Louisiana, I don’t really know that place. I was formed in Puerto Rico
The 500-year-old cobblestone streets glistening in the rain were my playground. As was the Spanish fort (now a national monument) El Morro. I used to love to see the cannonball fired from Sir Francis Drake’s ship that is now stuck in the thick wall of the fort. The Church where Ponce de Leon (Puerto Rico’s first governor) is buried; all these places were a part of my history too.
The music, the food, the beaches, the culture, and the language all became a part of who I am.
As the song says, the dreams I dreamt in my childhood, my first loves, all are the memories of my soul. One day I left for a strange country (USA) because destiny willed it, but my heart remained by the sea in my Old San Juan. I dreamed of returning to my beloved Old San Juan.
But time passed and destiny mocked my nostalgia. My hair turned white. Death is calling me, but I don’t want to die far from you, Puerto Rico of my soul.
