When were you given your first weighty responsibility? The kind that really matters and can have real consequences if you don’t complete it correctly. I was a kid in elementary school. Without any notice or formal agreement, I became the family translator and interpreter. It was a real job and an important one. The position …
La tierra de mi nacimiento, la tierra donde di a luz a mis propios hijos. La tierra de mis principios, raíces, de mi corazón. My parents came to you and you embraced them. You spoke our language and as I realized I was a part of their heritage and yours, I grew. You nurtured me, …
Do you feel it? Deep within you it’s buried, you might not have recognized it at first but it’s here, and you know it. It won’t be ignored and it’s ready to sprout like a seedling planted in the soft tissue of your core. You didn’t go looking for it but it found you, the …
I can remember the exact moment I fell in love with reading. I was 5 years old, the oldest daughter of Mexican immigrants and at the time could not speak, write, nor read English. I found myself in the grocery store with my parents standing at the checkout line when I spotted a basket of …
Tells the secrets I would never speak out loud. The ridge across my forehead quietly gives witness to the worries I’ve carried since childhood. The burrowed folds between my brows carry the weight of the endless prayers I supplicate a mi gran Dios en secreto. The creases around my eyes silently exclaim the joy and …
I have a story burrowed deep within me. I can’t get it out. It’s trapped. I’ve tried to ignore it but it refuses to live unacknowledged. It speaks to me. I want to release it but I’m afraid. What if it’s no good? What if I built it up my whole life and then when …
La primera mujer que me amo fue mi madre Mujer que se sacrificó por mi Mujer que me alimento Mujer que no dormía por cuidarme de noche al estar yo enferma Mujer que trabajo sin cesar Mujer que lloro Mujer que sufrió Mujer que no recibió elogios Mujer que amo sin siempre recibir el mismo …
I’ve made many. When I was young, I hurt my parents in many ways. I pushed the boundaries set for my protection. I did not understand them and worse yet, I didn’t care to. I said things that were hurtful, I broke the rules, I lashed out in anger. I now understand it was a part …
My love for them is rooted deep in my childhood. I remember being a young girl and helping my father out with our little spot of land. How my father wanted our yard to be pretty and add to the beauty of our neighborhood. I learned from him that a good garden was not only …
