Generations
Reconnecting With My Grandad’s Heritage As He Began to Forget It
My connections to the country and its people, my family, didn’t require control or even words. Touch, color, and togetherness were enough.
Seedlings, or What Has Been Passed On
Just like plants, we inherit some traits from those who came before us, but when I spend time with my siblings I’m amazed by how different we are.
What Bruce Lee’s Films Taught Me About Writing My Mother’s Voice
I know by worrying about a room of mostly white readers I undermine myself, but it’s become instinct. And, honestly, I just get tired.
A Family on the Border, of the Border
I see a wall as tantamount to rejection: to create a physical barrier is to reject the possibility of familiarity.
What Tarot Taught Me About the Stories We Tell
I’ve read that trauma disrupts time. That violent events are recorded differently in the brain.
Mourning My Dad and the Dog He Never Wanted
If I could save her, I would. I needed to feel that it was in my power to save her, to save something. I didn’t need her to be uncomplicated. I didn’t need a good dog. I needed her.
What I Found When I Searched for My Long-Lost Sister
This was not the information I was looking for. This was not the truth I wanted.
What We Imagine When Women Run Away
As a young girl, running away is considered a flight of fancy. As a grown woman, people think it’s just flight.
Meeting My Third Family
Briefly, I was part of that mysterious organism, a biological family; no one cared about my virtues or my bad behavior.
One Sister Sees X, the Other Sees Y
There are times I envy art’s effectiveness in a bilingual context, its ability to transcend language.