Inklings 2022

A Holiday that brings family together Ana Maria Tovar I woke up and glanced at my hello kit- ty digital clock; it was my favorite day of the year. The smell of squeezed lemons, blended garlic, and cut onions traveled throughout the house and awakened my sens- es. What was once a home filled with girls was now scattered with signs of multiple boys. A; football rolled on the clean patio floor, and dirty sneakers tracked mud from the kitchen door to the guest bedroom. My aunt and uncle and their two sons came from Texas to Miami for Thanksgiving break almost every year. For those four days, dirt remained under my nails, scrapes covered my knees, and happiness flushed throughout my face. One family Thanksgiving, in particular, has always stood out to me. As always, I bolted down the stairs, not wanting to miss one second of the Macy’s day pa- rade playing on the kitchen TV. I had almost reached the kitchen when I bumped into my dad. With shoes on and keys in hand, I asked where he was going. After a second of hesitation, he replied, “I am going to visit my mother’s grave. Would you like to come with me?” The faint sound of the TV and mumbling of conversations from the rest of my family was enough for me to decline my father’s offer. Even though all my grandparents had passed away, I had never visited a graveyard. When I pictured a cemetery, I saw what I assume most children my age would visualize; smoke hovering over the ground, zombie hands reaching out A m b i t i o n