Chapter 15 to Book Two Chapter 10 (pg 112-226)
Grande, R. (2012). The Distance Between Us: A Memoir. (pp. 112-226) New York, NY: Washington Square Press.
Day 4:
As mentioned in my last post, Abuelita Chinta took much better care of Reyna and her siblings than Abuela Evila, despite the fact that Abuelita Chinta was much poorer than Abuela Evila. This is further shown by what Reyna describes in Chapter 15:
This is in great contrast to the treatment they received under Abuela Evila who would feed herself meat while Reyna, Mago, and Carlos had to settle for oily beans.
Here, Mami returns upon the death of the wrestler and, after a period of sorrow, picks back up where she left working at the record shop. However, she isn't truly back. She begins to stay night at her sister's home until she lives with her sister altogether. Reyna and her siblings are still under the roof and care of Abuelita Chinta. Reyna describes her mother's leaving as worse than the scorpion sting that sent her to the hospital. Had her mother not returned she likely would have forgotten her, like Reyna had forgotten her father. Instead, the constant "coming and going" of Mami just made it harder on Reyna. Eventually, after Mago's graduation party, they being to establish a better relationship with their mother. Once again, Reyna uses fairy tales to describe her life (in this case the story of Hansel and Gretel). This shows how Reyna thought as a child, in fairy tales and holidays (she quantified the time Mami was gone in birthdays and Mother's Days). This newly reformed relationship is once again shattered with the introduction of a new boyfriend during the Christmas season.
In May, Papi returns to Mexico bringing with him the woman he left Mami for. He plans to take Mago back with him to the US, but
Reyna and Carlos convince him to take all his children. However, Mami clings onto Betty, the only child that could legally cross the border. So, Papi, Mago, Carlos, and Reyna enter the US at night and proceed to LA to start their life in El Otro Lado. Here book one ends.
Day 5:
Book two begins and the chapter numbers reset. The prologue for book two opens in 2010. Reyna has been in the US for 25 years and it seems her and her siblings have become estranged from their father, brought back together by Papi's diagnosis of liver cancer. We then move back to the time we were at at the end of book one, Summer 1985.
At this time, Reyna, Mago, and Carlos have been in the US for a few months. They saw the ocean for the first time in their life. During their beach visit, Reyna experiences a moment with her father that mirrors one her parents shared with each other. Reyna, not knowing how to swim, is scared to enter the ocean beyond the waves hitting her feet. So Papi takes her by the hand and walks out with her, promising never to let go of her. This is exactly the same as Mami and Papi in the pool at the Iguala social club and I know from the prologue that it ends the same way. At some point, Papi does let go of Reyna which is why it took his illness to bring their family back together twenty years from this moment.
It doesn't take long for the novelty of the US to fade for Reyna. She begins to get homesick, from the first day of school in America. I had mentioned that I wondered how difficult it would be for her to adjust. At this moment, in chapter one, she finds Mexico everywhere and even questions herself "do I belong here?" Even as she becomes more accustomed to her new life she still feels a bit torn. Mago has begun to assimilate, taking on the name Maggie. But Reyna still holds her attachments to Mexico, continuing to hold onto the comfort that her umbilical cord, buried on Abuela Evila's property in Mexico, gave her when Mami was in the US. Now, it serves the same purpose though with different motivations.
Obviously, given the title of the memoir, distance is a major theme. When Mami and her children are separated physically by 2,000 miles or just emotionally from the toll that physical distance and other events has taken. Eventually, the physical distance becomes practically nonexistent. Papi, Mami, Reyna, and all three of her siblings live in LA (though Mami and Betty live elsewhere in the city). Yet still, a gap between them all persists, one that I don't think ever closes.
¹Image retrieved from: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/may/14/report-scrutinizes-new-border-patrol-punishments/
As mentioned in my last post, Abuelita Chinta took much better care of Reyna and her siblings than Abuela Evila, despite the fact that Abuelita Chinta was much poorer than Abuela Evila. This is further shown by what Reyna describes in Chapter 15:
Abuelita Chinta did her best to look after us, but she didn't earn much money as a healer. It was hard for her to feed four children and herself. What little food she bought she distributed evenly among us. Sometimes she went without food and made sure we were fed first.
This is in great contrast to the treatment they received under Abuela Evila who would feed herself meat while Reyna, Mago, and Carlos had to settle for oily beans. Here, Mami returns upon the death of the wrestler and, after a period of sorrow, picks back up where she left working at the record shop. However, she isn't truly back. She begins to stay night at her sister's home until she lives with her sister altogether. Reyna and her siblings are still under the roof and care of Abuelita Chinta. Reyna describes her mother's leaving as worse than the scorpion sting that sent her to the hospital. Had her mother not returned she likely would have forgotten her, like Reyna had forgotten her father. Instead, the constant "coming and going" of Mami just made it harder on Reyna. Eventually, after Mago's graduation party, they being to establish a better relationship with their mother. Once again, Reyna uses fairy tales to describe her life (in this case the story of Hansel and Gretel). This shows how Reyna thought as a child, in fairy tales and holidays (she quantified the time Mami was gone in birthdays and Mother's Days). This newly reformed relationship is once again shattered with the introduction of a new boyfriend during the Christmas season.
In May, Papi returns to Mexico bringing with him the woman he left Mami for. He plans to take Mago back with him to the US, but
 |
| ¹Mexican Border Patrol, May 2013 |
Day 5:
Book two begins and the chapter numbers reset. The prologue for book two opens in 2010. Reyna has been in the US for 25 years and it seems her and her siblings have become estranged from their father, brought back together by Papi's diagnosis of liver cancer. We then move back to the time we were at at the end of book one, Summer 1985.
At this time, Reyna, Mago, and Carlos have been in the US for a few months. They saw the ocean for the first time in their life. During their beach visit, Reyna experiences a moment with her father that mirrors one her parents shared with each other. Reyna, not knowing how to swim, is scared to enter the ocean beyond the waves hitting her feet. So Papi takes her by the hand and walks out with her, promising never to let go of her. This is exactly the same as Mami and Papi in the pool at the Iguala social club and I know from the prologue that it ends the same way. At some point, Papi does let go of Reyna which is why it took his illness to bring their family back together twenty years from this moment.
It doesn't take long for the novelty of the US to fade for Reyna. She begins to get homesick, from the first day of school in America. I had mentioned that I wondered how difficult it would be for her to adjust. At this moment, in chapter one, she finds Mexico everywhere and even questions herself "do I belong here?" Even as she becomes more accustomed to her new life she still feels a bit torn. Mago has begun to assimilate, taking on the name Maggie. But Reyna still holds her attachments to Mexico, continuing to hold onto the comfort that her umbilical cord, buried on Abuela Evila's property in Mexico, gave her when Mami was in the US. Now, it serves the same purpose though with different motivations.
Obviously, given the title of the memoir, distance is a major theme. When Mami and her children are separated physically by 2,000 miles or just emotionally from the toll that physical distance and other events has taken. Eventually, the physical distance becomes practically nonexistent. Papi, Mami, Reyna, and all three of her siblings live in LA (though Mami and Betty live elsewhere in the city). Yet still, a gap between them all persists, one that I don't think ever closes.
¹Image retrieved from: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/may/14/report-scrutinizes-new-border-patrol-punishments/
I found this part of the book very interesting. I believe Mami was just trying to fill the void she had when Papi left her. I feel the wrestler gave Mami a sense of normality and filled her needs and wants. He had a dream to become a famous luchador and was working on that dream. He also had a day job as a car insurance salesman to support himself. I bet it was exciting for Mami. To beloved and adored again. But then things change rapidly again as the luchador dies in a car wreck with Mami being sent to the hospital to lick her physical and mental wounds again.
ReplyDelete