10 Quotes by Erika L. Sánchez

I’m afraid to tell him exactly how I feel - how one second I’m okay and the next I’m sad for no good reason. I don’t want to scare him away.

But how do we live with these secrets locked within us? How do we tie our shoes, brush our hair, drink coffee, wash the dishes, and go to sleep, pretending everything is fine? How do we laugh and feel happiness despite the buried things growing inside? How can we do that day after day?

This is bold--existing.

La felicidad es una semilla de diente de león flotando en el aire que no puedo alcanzar. Sin importar cuánto lo intente, sin importar que tan rápido corra, simplemente no puedo alcanzarla. Incluso cuando pienso que la atrape, abro la mano y está vacía.

What’s surprised me most about seeing my sister dead is the lingering smirk on her face.

You know, I just... I just feel like it's unfair, that my whole life is unfair, like I was born into the wrong place and family. I never belong anywhere. My parents don't understand anything about me. And my sister is gone. Sometimes I watch those stupid TV shows, you know? The ones where mothers and daughters talk about feelings and fathers take their kids to play baseball or get ice cream or some shit like that, and I wish it were me. It's so stupid, I know, to want your life to be a sitcom.

In some ways, I think that part of what of what I'm trying to accomplish, whether Amá really understands it or not, is to live for her Apá, and Olga. It's not that I'm living life for them, exactly, but I have so many choices they've never had. And I feel like I can do so much with what I've been given. What a waste their journey would be if I just settled for a dull mediocre life.

In some ways, I think that part of what of what I'm trying to accomplish, whether Amá really understands it or not, is to live for her, Apá, and Olga. It's not that I'm living life for them, exactly, but I have so many choices they've never had. And I feel like I can do so much with what I've been given. What a waste their journey would be if I just settled for a dull mediocre life.

I smile and say, thank you,' because the rudest thing you can do to a Mexican lady is refuse her food—might as well spit on a picture of La Virgen de Guadalupe or turn the TV off during Sábado Gigante.