For a few seconds after my mother said she could not congratulate me for “defying God’s will,” no one moved.

your own complaint.”

Andrés looked at me. “We will.”

For the first time since my mother’s words at the table, I felt something stronger than fear.

Documentation.

My father was waiting at Abuela Teresa’s house when we arrived that afternoon. He had two boxes on the table. Old shoe boxes. The kind families use to store photos, receipts, and secrets they continue reading …