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21 " Your failures don’t define you,” she continued. “Your worth isn’t about what you do or don’t do. You have value simply because you’re here. "
― Diane Guerrero , In the Country We Love: My Family Divided
22 " It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old. They grow old because they stop pursuing dreams. —GABRIEL “GABITO” GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ, Colombian novelist and recipient of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature "
23 " The day you finally start dealing with your past is the day you stop dragging it into the present. I’m still dealing. I’m still facing the hard stuff. I’m still getting better and growing up. In J, I’ve found a man who’s willing to take that long road with me. * "
24 " ran. You take big risks so you can score big victories. You step out because, dammit, you want to be chosen. You want something to show for your effort. "
25 " They aren't little things at all. They're the experiences that, one moment at a time, make up a life. "
26 " I daydream about reclaiming some of those moments by sharing the simplest things with her. What would it be like for us to go to HomeGoods and pick out a mirror or a little chair? How would it feel to be able to say, "Hey Mami- how would this look in the living room?" Those are the little things I miss... "
27 " Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. put it another way: “Everyone has the power for greatness, not for fame but greatness, because greatness is determined by service... You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. "
28 " I've written the book I wish I could've read when I was that girl- and my hope is that, in these pages, others will find the solace I once ached for. "
29 " It took so much courage to let myself be seen and heard as I am... And for once I was not afraid. Someone wise once said there are only two emotions - fear and love - and it's impossible to feel them at the same time. On that morning, in that room, I was surrounded by love alone. "
― Diane Guerrero
30 " I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass. —MAYA ANGELOU, poet and novelist "
31 " We don’t do all our growing up between birth and adolescence or even our twenties. If we’re fortunate, we never stop. * "
32 " Deported. Long before I fully understood what that word meant, I'd learned to dread it. With every ring of my family's doorbell, with every police car passing on the street, a horrifying possibility hung in the air: My parents might one day be sent back to Colombia. That fear permeated every part of my childhood. Day after day, year after year, my mom and dad tried desperately to become American citizens and keep our family together. They pleaded. They planned. They prayed. They turned to others for help. And in the end, none of their efforts were enough to keep them here in the country we love. "
33 " My story represents all that should be celebrated about America. Only here could a daughter of immigrants grow up to succeed in the competitive and exciting world of acting. And only here could a girl like me be invited to have a conversation with the president. I will always cherish those opportunities. And yet my experience in this country also reflects a reality that's still tough for me to face. In a nation that values keeping families together and safeguarding children, I was invisible. Either the immigration officials didn't see me or they chose to turn their heads. I'll never know which. But I do know that as Americans, we can do better than that. We can extend greater compassion. And we can push our leaders to protect the most vulnerable among us. It's one way we can help people who desperately need it. "
34 " We don’t do all our growing up between birth and adolescence or even our twenties. If we’re fortunate, we never stop. "
35 " There are years that ask questions and years that answer,” Zora Neale Hurston once wrote. "
36 " What would it be like for us to go to HomeGoods and pick out a mirror or a little chair? How would it feel to be able to say, “Hey, Mami—how would this look in the living room?” Those are the little things I miss. And when you think about it, they aren’t little things at all. They’re the experiences that, one moment at a time, make up a life. "
37 " You scared?” she asked.“Yes,” I answered.“I know,” she said. “What you’re going through is scary.”A wave of comfort washed over me. My friend hadn’t urged me to be strong. She hadn’t told me to stand tall or soldier on. She hadn’t uttered the shallow reassurance that I’d get through this. Rather, she’d given me permission, right before sleep, to be the frightened little girl that I was. "
38 " By some estimates, you and I will cross paths with as many as eighty thousand people during our lifetimes. Many of the folks we’ll encounter will be passing acquaintances. Others will be family, friends, and coworkers who remain in our lives for decades. If even one of those people has a lasting impact on us, we’re fortunate. "
39 " When you're back at the starting line of a race you have no reason to think you'll complete, there isn't much to talk about. "
40 " But in the world I was raised in, amid the countless media images I took in as a girl, I got this crazy notion that being white and well-heeled and educated made one inherently superior. I thought that being brown and broke, as well as hiding out from authorities for most of my childhood, somehow made me less valuable in the eyes of others and, at moments, in my own eyes. "