to claim, to love
In Memoriam Zayd Abdullahi Adem (2020-2025) In loving memory, life will never be the same without you Edo mcn. My first baby, my love. Forever and always yours. I remember there was a reflection I had written on Gish Jen's "Who's Irish?" In the story, an elderly Chinese immigrant grandmother is dealing with language/cultural barriers as she clashed with her Americanized daughter Natalie on how to raise her daughter. I noticed something interesting about the language the grandmother would use when referring to her daughter. She would refer to her always as "my daughter" in stark contrast to her strict use of first name (Sophie) when referring to her own granddaughter. We claim whom we love and what we love as ours. I think there is a steady core part of our hearts that we reserve for the people we truly love. And it's this steady core part that remains largely preserved in the face of life's challenges; so it makes sense then that this love st...
