THE GREEN BOX
You imagined everything you wanted to be, and you were happy.
Apache forts, tents, stamp albums, puzzles, sleepovers. Parrots and parakeets, birds, aviaries, chickens, hens and roosters. Orange juice, ham sandwiches, chocomilk and junk food. Stuffed animals, dolls, video games, tin toys. Anise popsicles, turtle cookies, Damy sweets. Skates, bicycles, bouncy balls, Batman masks, star costumes. Pillows, balloons, birthday parties, bees, salads and jellies.
Soccer, soccer players and imaginary matches.
You invented a life infinitely
even when your freedom was contained.
And you were happy.
‘The Green Box’ is an ongoing family project about my grandma’s house, ‘Pan’ (my uncle) and ‘Nana’ his caregiver.
My grandmother’s house was the place where ‘Pan’ lived all his life. As a child, my brother nicknamed him ‘Pan’ because of his physical resemblance to Peter Pan, without realizing that we were calling him that because of his ability to always live like a child.
Pan was always physically limited, trapped in a body that did not respond to his healthy mind. Nana took care of him from his first to his last day, three years ago, when we closed the door of the house for the last time. Now it is a box full of memories.