When Antonio arrived back home from visiting Paul, he went straight for the letter Ruth left him. Before, he had told himself that reading the letter would make Ruth’s death final. But, now he needed her. He had never been
Two weeks went by since Antonio saw Paul. He threw himself into his work minding the land. From sun up till sun down he picked, packed and cleaned. Antonio desperately missed Ruth. About this time of the year she would
Two weeks had passed since Frances had died. Paul stopped by almost every day to check in on Antonio. He knew Antonio was still grieving Frances’s not being there. He was grieving too. Things just weren’t going to be the
Frances barely got out of bed anymore. If he did, it was very briefly to make Antonio feel better. As much as Antonio wanted Frances to live forever, he knew Frances was leaving him. He often comforted himself with memories
Frances no longer rose early with the roosters. He didn’t seem to stir until the sun was fully up. His bedtime changed too, most days he was in bed before the sun went down. Antonio noticed Frances drifting farther away
Years went by, Antonio grew to be quite the young man. Ruth and Frances depended on him more. They were getting up in age and along with that came ailments. Antonio was 17 years old. He presented with physical strength
“Legacy my son is more than the land I will leave you.” That is how Frances started teaching me one morning. He loved taking me to different parts of the land and sitting me down on the plush grass for
Time had passed and I was soon to be twelve years old. If I was still in my village, my father would be preparing me for manhood. We had rituals in my village every two years that lasted three days
Day after day Frances took time with me, teaching me about the land and what grew on it. He made it a routine. Every day, early in the morning we would sit on the porch in our chairs and just listen
I think it was about six months that went by when I finally got something in the mail from my sister Naomi. She wrote one page talking about how she liked her new home, but missed me terribly. She sent