Chapter 11 to END (pg 227-322)
Grande, R. (2012). The Distance Between Us: A Memoir. (pp. 227-322) New York, NY: Washington Square Press.
Day 6:
Now, Reyna is on her way to becoming a legal resident of the US. She has improved her English greatly but still speaks with an accent, which becomes the thing that she is insecure about. In middle school, she joins the band and begins to play the sax. She falls in love with music because it wasn't hindered by her English abilities or accent. This is the same motivation that leads her to love reading and writing once she becomes fluent in English with an accent remaining.
Earlier, Reyna foreshadowed that something bad was going to happen in relation to Papi's dream house. Their aunt, Papi's youngest sister, steals his house. Abuela Evila, now sickly, was manipulated by his sister into signing over the deed to her property and his sister moved into the house he paid for. This act breaks him. He had begun to take adult ESL classes and work towards a better future but following this betrayal, he gives up.
Reyna, on the other hand, pushes on. She graduates from the ESL program before beginning eighth grade. She has fallen deeply in love with books, however, Reyna does feel slightly disconnected from the characters in most of the books she reads. She specifically mentions the Sweet Valley series that follows rich, white twins. This was completely unrelatable to her but she still saw it as a sort of dream. She does find some connection in books by V.C. Andrew (Flowers in the Attic) as those characters had struggles similar to Reyna's despite being American characters. While this was the late 1980s, this largely relates to the very recent movements for more equal representation in media, particularly for young girls to have (fictional or real) role models.
Not long after this, Mago becomes the first person in her family to graduate high school. Reyna was the third to graduate from junior high. Just before this, Mago, Carlos, and Reyna obtained green cards, making them legal US citizens. Reyna's fifteenth birthday is approaching but her earlier dreams of a quinceanera (formed as a child hidden underneath a table at her cousin Elida's own party) will not be realized, due to her family's financial situation. While a quinceanera is typically a large moment than any young Mexican girl looks forward to, I feel that this must have been especially disappointing for Reyna as she has already begun to feel that she is losing her connection to her heritage. Reyna would later get her quinceanera, through the efforts of her sister, when she is nearly sixteen, but it still disappoints her. Once she finally achieves her dream of dancing with her father, she is disappointed. She has known her father was not what she had hoped for when he was simply a photograph but it is in this moment that she truly realizes it. Now she knows that Mago was truly more of a parent to her than either her Mami or Papi.
In Reyna's senior year of high school, she has a chance to reconnect. She travels with Mami and Mago to Iguala and sees her family there for the first time since she ran across the border as a small child. She no longer sees her hometown through the blinders that come with being young, the beauty she once saw is gone, especially now that Iguala no longer has a functioning train station. She sees the filth of her environment and she's shocked by it. She attempts to reach out to old friends but the time and distance have soured those relationships. Now, she is no longer Mexican enough and she feels that she has truly lost a part of herself by leaving her home country.
The summer after Reyna becomes the third high school graduate in her family, she enrolls in an English writing course at Pasadena City College, largely against the will of her father who has lost hope in her after Mago and Carlos both dropped out of college. During this course, Reyna makes a connection with her professor, one that will last for years to come. Diana Savas, a Greek-American woman who spoke fluent Spanish, becomes the supporter Reyna needs to
achieve her goals. At first, she serves as one of the closest things Reyna has to a friend. Diana introduces Reyna to Chinco/Latino literature, the type of writing she had missed out on as a child. When Reyna's father is arrested, she makes the decision that she must leave that house. She tries to stay with her mother but the apartment is cramped and too far away from the PCC campus, where she is now a full-time student. Diana opens her home to Reyna and encourages her passion for writing. She also supports Reyna in her efforts to transfer to the University of California in Santa Cruz as well as assist her in finding and applying for scholarships to fund her college career.
The first day that Reyna is at UCSC, having just moved into a student apartment, she walks to the ocean and recalls that moment during her first beach trip in which Papi held her hand. In this moment, she realizes that she has worked hard to get where she is, largely by herself, and she finally loses the last of her hopeful attachments to her father. She ends her book with the phrase "I let go."
In the epilogue we learn that Reyna becomes the first person in her family to graduate college, as well as how she made it from that moment to where she is today, writing this memoir. I personally give this book a 4.5/5. I truly enjoyed reading it. In book one, I did feel that the progression of time was too slow but once I reached book two, it became hard for me to even put it down. Despite the incredibly heartbreaking story that is her life, Reyna still manages to inject humor (some lines had me laughing for a few solid minutes) and you can really feel her through her writing. I do think that this memoir exceeded my expectations and I plan to read the other books she has written.
Day 6:
Now, Reyna is on her way to becoming a legal resident of the US. She has improved her English greatly but still speaks with an accent, which becomes the thing that she is insecure about. In middle school, she joins the band and begins to play the sax. She falls in love with music because it wasn't hindered by her English abilities or accent. This is the same motivation that leads her to love reading and writing once she becomes fluent in English with an accent remaining.
Earlier, Reyna foreshadowed that something bad was going to happen in relation to Papi's dream house. Their aunt, Papi's youngest sister, steals his house. Abuela Evila, now sickly, was manipulated by his sister into signing over the deed to her property and his sister moved into the house he paid for. This act breaks him. He had begun to take adult ESL classes and work towards a better future but following this betrayal, he gives up.
Reyna, on the other hand, pushes on. She graduates from the ESL program before beginning eighth grade. She has fallen deeply in love with books, however, Reyna does feel slightly disconnected from the characters in most of the books she reads. She specifically mentions the Sweet Valley series that follows rich, white twins. This was completely unrelatable to her but she still saw it as a sort of dream. She does find some connection in books by V.C. Andrew (Flowers in the Attic) as those characters had struggles similar to Reyna's despite being American characters. While this was the late 1980s, this largely relates to the very recent movements for more equal representation in media, particularly for young girls to have (fictional or real) role models.
Not long after this, Mago becomes the first person in her family to graduate high school. Reyna was the third to graduate from junior high. Just before this, Mago, Carlos, and Reyna obtained green cards, making them legal US citizens. Reyna's fifteenth birthday is approaching but her earlier dreams of a quinceanera (formed as a child hidden underneath a table at her cousin Elida's own party) will not be realized, due to her family's financial situation. While a quinceanera is typically a large moment than any young Mexican girl looks forward to, I feel that this must have been especially disappointing for Reyna as she has already begun to feel that she is losing her connection to her heritage. Reyna would later get her quinceanera, through the efforts of her sister, when she is nearly sixteen, but it still disappoints her. Once she finally achieves her dream of dancing with her father, she is disappointed. She has known her father was not what she had hoped for when he was simply a photograph but it is in this moment that she truly realizes it. Now she knows that Mago was truly more of a parent to her than either her Mami or Papi.
In Reyna's senior year of high school, she has a chance to reconnect. She travels with Mami and Mago to Iguala and sees her family there for the first time since she ran across the border as a small child. She no longer sees her hometown through the blinders that come with being young, the beauty she once saw is gone, especially now that Iguala no longer has a functioning train station. She sees the filth of her environment and she's shocked by it. She attempts to reach out to old friends but the time and distance have soured those relationships. Now, she is no longer Mexican enough and she feels that she has truly lost a part of herself by leaving her home country.
The summer after Reyna becomes the third high school graduate in her family, she enrolls in an English writing course at Pasadena City College, largely against the will of her father who has lost hope in her after Mago and Carlos both dropped out of college. During this course, Reyna makes a connection with her professor, one that will last for years to come. Diana Savas, a Greek-American woman who spoke fluent Spanish, becomes the supporter Reyna needs to
The first day that Reyna is at UCSC, having just moved into a student apartment, she walks to the ocean and recalls that moment during her first beach trip in which Papi held her hand. In this moment, she realizes that she has worked hard to get where she is, largely by herself, and she finally loses the last of her hopeful attachments to her father. She ends her book with the phrase "I let go."
In the epilogue we learn that Reyna becomes the first person in her family to graduate college, as well as how she made it from that moment to where she is today, writing this memoir. I personally give this book a 4.5/5. I truly enjoyed reading it. In book one, I did feel that the progression of time was too slow but once I reached book two, it became hard for me to even put it down. Despite the incredibly heartbreaking story that is her life, Reyna still manages to inject humor (some lines had me laughing for a few solid minutes) and you can really feel her through her writing. I do think that this memoir exceeded my expectations and I plan to read the other books she has written.
As you stated at the end of your blog, the book started off quite slow, but once it got to book 2, I could not put it down. I would be up 'til 11:00 or 12:00 at night reading. As I was reading this book, a girl who was born and raised in the US, I could not help but feel guilty. These 3 siblings had to share a bed, in their grandmothers home {whom did not like them}, while their parents came to the US for work.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of the book would have to be towards the end, when Reyna lives with Diana. Even though Reyna was a college student, Diana was able to treat her kind of like her own child. Diana was a mother Reyna never really had. Reyna was able to pursue her career as a writer, all because Diana pushed her to her fullest potential. At the very end of the book, Reyna's Papi is very sick and it is time for her to say goodbye. I would imagine she replayed all the memories she had with her Papi, and one point, I believe she was mad, frustrated, upset, but the very last thing Reyna asked herself before they took him off life support was "If I had known what life with my father would be like, would I have still followed him to El Orto Lado?" She answered herself and said "You made me who I am", and she knew her answer was 'yes'. After all Reyna went through, her father helped mold her future and for that, I know she is very thankful for everything, good and bad, that he did for her.