Light a candle. Read the letter she would have written, if she'd had the words. This is where Raeni goes when she needs to remember who she came from.
her mother's mother
Baby. The world is going to try to make you small. Do not let it. I spent my whole life folding myself to fit through doors built without me…
her grandmother's sister
I left home at seventeen because nobody would let me sing the way I needed to sing. I lost my family for a song I never got to record.…
your mother, before the diagnosis
Raeni. If you are reading this, it means I'm not sitting next to you, and that is the only thing I have ever been afraid of.…
the friend who didn't make it
We were supposed to braid each other's hair for prom. I'm sorry I'm not there. I'm sorry the world was too loud for my smallness.…
the woman you're becoming
Hi. It's me. We made it. I know — I didn't believe it either.…