Rachel

The little girl holding a doll stared out from the antique frame. She held the rag doll tightly in both arms. She and the doll were dressed in the same old-fashioned-style dresses. She had a slight smile and searching eyes.

Rachel had seen this image for as long as she could remember. She dusted it in the china cabinet on Saturdays and rarely gave it a second thought. But today when Rachel reached for the picture, she somehow knocked it from its place. Horrified, she watched it crash to the floor and scatter shattered glass.

The photograph had been folded inside the frame. Rachel carefully reached among the shards of glass to retrieve the heavy paper.

"Rachel? What happened? Are you hurt? What fell?" Rachel�s mom called with a slew of questions, without waiting for answers. Rachel�s mom was kind and willing to listen, and Rachel felt lucky to have such a good mom. Right now, though, she wasn�t feeling lucky at all. She dreaded telling her mother about the broken picture.

As her mother entered the room, Rachel suddenly realized she didn�t know who the girl in the picture was. She had always thought it was her grandmother, but suddenly she wasn�t sure. Rachel�s mother knelt down and began placing pieces of glass into her hand. Her silence confused Rachel. She had expected her mom to yell or cry or something.

"I guess I wasn't watching what I was doing, Mom. I'm so sorry! I'll buy you a new frame" Rachel stopped, realizing her mother wasn�t listening. Her mom just sighed, threw the glass in the kitchen trash on top of the egg shells from breakfast. Then stood looking down at the shells, glass and orange juice cans without moving. Finally, she turned and, smiling sadly, walked past Rachel toward her room, carrying the picture.

Rachel followed, apologizing again, but her mother didn't seem to hear her. Rachel felt helpless and alone. She started to cry. Rachel's mom slowly focused on her daughter and took her hand. She spoke slowly, as if reviewing a scene in her mind.

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"When this child began her journey to this country, she was a healthy young girl." She held the picture gently in her hand. "She couldn't wait to start a new life in America. She had left most of her family behind, expecting to join an older brother who had come several years before." Rachel sat down on the bed as her mother continued.