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61 " Mexican ladies are always knitting doilies for everything—doilies for the TV, doilies for vases, doilies for useless knickknacks. Doilies as far as the eye can see! "
― Erika L. Sánchez , I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
62 " He only speaks Spanish, which makes me nervous. I speak it fine, of course, but I sound ten times smarter in English. My vocabulary is just not as extensive, and sometimes I get stuck. I hope he doesn’t think I’m dumb, because I’m not. "
63 " The agua de jamaica is tart, sweet, and refreshing. I pour myself another glass. If the night were made into a drink, it would taste like this. "
64 " When I get these flashbacks, I feel like someone scooped my soul out and trampled it on the dirty ground. "
65 " 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. "
66 " You think you're all grown-up. You're only fifteen. You don't even know how to make a tortilla. "
67 " Is there something you're not telling me?" she says, feeling my forehead."I said no! Jesus Christ, leave me alone," I snap, which surprises both of us."You're going to be sorry when I'm not around, you'll see." Amá turns back to the sink. She is always going on and on about how she'll be dead one day. Do all mothers do that? "
68 " A veces es difícil para las personas ajustarse a nuevas ideas, en especial si vienen de una cultura muy diferente. "
69 " You better not be lying. You know I always find out." She points her spatula at me. "
70 " According to Mamá Jacinta, everyone is related to me somehow. I just nod, smile, and kiss everyone on the cheek like I'm supposed to. "
71 " Rebellious? Amá?" My mind can't process that. My mother is the most rigid person I know."She never listened to me, always did what she wanted. You shouldn't be so hard on her, mija. She's been through so much. "
72 " It’s hard to explain the way I feel when I see a beautiful painting. It’s a combination of scared, happy, excited, and sad all at once, like a soft light that glows in my chest and stomach for a few seconds. Sometimes it takes my breath away, which I didn’t know was a real thing until I stood in front of this painting. I used to think it was just some saying in pop songs about stupid people in love. I had a similar feeling when I read an Emily Dickinson poem. I was too excited and threw my book across the room. It was so good that it made me angry. People would think I’m nuts if I try to explain it to them, so I don’t. "
73 " It’s so stupid, I know, to want your life to be a sitcom "
74 " I never imagined I would have to protect and care for my mother—I didn’t know that was my job—but I said, “Yes, of course. "
75 " walk over to my favorite painting, Judith Slaying Holofernes. We learned about the artist, Artemisia Gentileschi, "
76 " That’s what’s so great about art and poetry—right when you think you “get it,” you see something else. You can find a million hidden meanings. "
77 " A veces las pequeñas cosas son símbolos o detonantes de problemas mucho más grandes en nuestras vidas. Piensa en por qué ese momento en particular te causó tanta aflicción. "
78 " sometimes in life you don’t get to do what you want to do. Sometimes you have to deal with what’s given to you, shut up, and keep working. "
79 " Girdle: such an ugly word, a word as gross as what it does. "
80 " terror being the beginning of beauty. Or something like that. I don’t quite remember. "