No More Sunsets

Summer has arrived, and my vacation to Cleveland, Ohio, and Niagara Falls, Canada, will begin. I will stay at my brother Randy’s' house in Cleveland. I always enjoy going to the old neighborhood I grew up in or what's left of it. Most of it is gone due to the construction of the I-90 freeway. Some run-down buildings remain, with some empty lots where buildings once stood and some modern buildings that don't seem to fit in. I feel so sad about what I see in that once wonderful neighborhood. I had great childhood friends that I had so much fun with. The flight from California to Cleveland will stop in Dallas, Texas, and will last around six hours. My brother Randy will pick us up at the airport and then a ten-minute drive to his house.

Being in Cleveland, I have feelings of being at home. I was born and raised in this city. Many of my friends are gone, but many remain. We will travel to the Cuyahoga River area called the Flats. The river is full of bridges that cross over it. The Good Time 3 river cruise was a lovely tour of the river. We are also visiting Edgewater Park, where I used to play baseball and go fishing for perch. A park that I liked was Lakewood Park. It was so peaceful there—a place to see the sunset with many squirrels to feed. Downtown Cleveland is not a bustling area anymore like it was in the sixties or seventies. It looked like a ghost town. Even though Progressive Field for the Cleveland Guardians is there, we had the pleasure of attending three games during the visit, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is close by.

We planned to drive to Niagara Falls, Canada, and stay for three days. So we packed and left Monday morning on a four-hour drive. The drive was relaxing with all the greenery and trees. We will stay at the Hilton Hotel in Canada with a falls view from the room. The view was so beautiful. You could see the American and Canadian Horseshoe Falls from the room. The falls should be a place that everyone should visit in their lifetime.

The boat ride under the falls called the Maid Of The Mist is impressive feels like you are in a hurricane, and everyone gets drenched. I noticed people from many countries enjoying the falls, the entire area, the restaurants, and souvenir stores. The trip was going so fast, and we decided to visit the American side of the falls on the ride back to Cleveland.

Once on the American side, we headed towards the falls to get close to the water. On the way there, we had some leftover bread, so we fed the seagulls. Once you feed one, they start arriving until fifty or more want to eat the bread. Once we were done feeding the seagulls, we headed to the falls. We were about five feet from the water behind the railing just before the water went over the edge. You can see the power of the water and the giant mist cloud caused by the water hitting the bottom of the falls. We took pictures and videos and decided to do other activities. As we headed up the path, I could see the panic on people's faces heading toward the falls and them pointing toward the water. I heard someone say, "He jumped in the water." as we turned around, people ran toward the falls. As we got to the edge, a woman, a child, and other people were crying. "he is dead," they said. "Look, he is floating in the water face down." Now, police started to arrive and asked for witnesses to find out what happened. One witness said, "he took his shirt off, his sandals, and his wallet and car keys laid them neatly on the sidewalk and jumped over the railing. The water quickly washed him away." This event ruined our day; all our joy was gone to know someone decided to take their life. I wondered what happened in his life to make him make this awful decision. I thought he would never see another sunset or sunrise, for that matter. I wonder what went through his mind as he went over the falls. This event was so sad, a terrible ending to a great and fun vacation.

Written by: Alvin Rivera