Holiday Season
by Carlos Bernate from Richmond, Virginia
When I was just 10 years old, I wrote a letter to my mother after my parents got divorced. For the holiday season, my mother brought me that letter in a frame, and told me the story of the sadness she had for years while carrying it in her wallet and not being able to see it without tears falling down her cheeks.
As Latin-Americans, our family does not really celebrate almost any of the United States holidays, especially one whose past is marked by the genocide of Native Americans by European colonizers.
My mother and I are the only ones who migrated to the United States in our family circle and on this day we tried to reconnect and spent the evening together. Since I was young, it’s been difficult to reconnect with my family. This isolation has been the main reason why it has been tough for me to manage my emotions and connect with other people without having to do it through telling stories with a camera.
We had a calm evening where we share a meal while telling old stories and watching a movie with the hope that moments like this will repair a bond that was broken so long ago.
