ohri

“I wanted to tell them that I'd never had a friend, not ever, not a real one. Until Dante. I wanted to tell them that I never knew that people like Dante existed in the world, people who looked at the stars, and knew the mysteries of water, and knew enough to know that birds belonged to the heavens and weren't meant to be shot down from their graceful flights by mean and stupid boys. I wanted to tell them that he had changed my life and that I would never be the same, not ever. And that somehow it felt like it was Dante who had saved my life and not the other way around. I wanted to tell them that he was the first human being aside from my mother who had ever made me want to talk about the things that scared me. I wanted to tell them so many things and yet I didn't have the words. So I just stupidly repeated myself. "Dante's my friend.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“So that means you can't remember the last time someone told you take care of yourself in your own language.”
― Elaine Castillo, America Is Not the Heart

“You don’t ever really stop having a song. It’s easier to stop having a person than to stop having a song.”
― Elaine Castillo, America Is Not the Heart

“Baggage means no matter how far you go, no matter how many times you immigrate, there are countries in you you’ll never leave”
― Elaine Castillo, America Is Not the Heart