We can only handle so much truth at any given moment,

These are our sins and how did we ever get here without them

It strikes me that I cannot claim this country’s serene coves and sun-soaked beaches without also claiming its poverty, its problems, its history. To say that any aspect of it is part of me is to say that all of it is part of me.

For the hyphenated

It’s weird to be this open with him, to not hold anything back. It’s like we’re characters in a cartoon who have continued to run over and past the edge of the cliff, defying the laws of physics. This is just not the kind of relationship we have, and I fear I’ll eventually say something wrong, and we’ll plummet. But I keep talking because I’m deter

It was like he used all his compassion on strangers and ran out by the time he came home.

“No offense, cousin, but even though you are from here, you are also not. I know you want to help, but you have only recently learned about any of this. You are not going to be the one to save us.”

“Maybe you haven’t developed a passion yet because you’ve spent your entire life doing what others wanted you to do.”

Surely the air your lungs first breathe matters. The language your ears first hear. The foods your nose first smells and your tongue first tastes. The soil you first crawl upon.