Silvia and Cosmo visit one of Silvia’s friends in the scenic coastal town of Santa Cruz, California. Located about 90 miles south of San Francisco, Santa Cruz is home to a major university as well as a lively boardwalk filled with restaurants, shops, and an amusement park. For Cosmo, this stop marks a profound milestone: it is the first time in his life that he sees the Pacific Ocean.
He had never seen the Pacific Ocean before this day. It looked vastly different from the Atlantic Ocean, just as Santa Cruz felt unlike any town on the Jersey Shore. Mountains framed the coastline; rocks jutted out of the sea, some crowned with seals, others with pelicans. Trees with deep green branches swept dramatically toward the water, as if drawn by the ocean’s pull.
Despite the striking differences between the Pacific Coast and the East Coast, Cosmo instinctively compares the two landscapes. Being in Santa Cruz stirs memories of his childhood beach days—long hours spent under a yellow-and-green striped umbrella while his younger brother, Vince, built sandcastles nearby. As a child, he doesn’t remember ever feeling asleep inside. He remembers only being alive and awake.
Yet beneath those memories lies a deeper realization. There must have been a part of him that was numb, he reflects, since he had learned to shut out Frank during his violent rampages. While others seemed unable to protect themselves, Cosmo had found a way to close down emotionally. Perhaps he had been sleeping through much of his childhood after all—learning early how to go numb, to dull himself, to survive.
This post is from my blog series on the places visited in the road trip story, “Discovery of an Eagle.”
Grace Mattioli is the author of the Greco Family Trilogy books, including Olive Branches Don’t Grow on Trees, Discovery of an Eagle, and The Bird that Sang in Color. These books are available from all major online book sellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple Books.
