Learning to Trust Myself
Names have been changed. Growing up, I believed my family was a close one. My siblings and I spent time together, and we traveled every year to new places as a family. We lived in an apartment in East Harlem and I felt comfortable living with my parents, who mostly seemed to care for me. […]
Read MoreFrom Group Chat to Real Friends
Names have been changed. In 5th grade, I was diagnosed with selective mutism. Though I could speak comfortably at home with my parents and my twin sister Ada, at school I was completely mute. We were in different classes, but I’d stick by Ada at lunch. “Why are you always hanging around me? Don’t you […]
Read MoreWar Transformed Our Family
Growing up, everyone in my family was afraid of my mom. When she got angry, she would turn into a tiger. She’d scream loudly, and her voice turned throaty and scary. Sometimes, she even hit my younger sister and me. Dad would also avoid mom when she wasn’t in a good mood. When I heard […]
Read More‘Grief Is Like the Ocean’
My father died of cancer in June of 2020, a few months into the COVID-19 pandemic. At first he was diagnosed with a chronic, but not fatal, inflammatory arthritis that affects the spine and large joints. But after his condition continued to deteriorate, a trip back to the hospital revealed that he had metastatic brain […]
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