Any Day with You by Mae Respicio

Author:Mae Respicio
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2020-05-04T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

“How did class go?” Dad asks that night. He, Mom, and I sit on the couch, Toby and Tatang already in bed. Talking with my parents before bedtime feels nice. Hanging out. Some kids at school get embarrassed by their parents; when they go to the mall their moms drop them off at the corner instead of walking in with them the way my mom does.

“Tatang was awesome,” I say. “I even heard new war stories. I wonder why he hasn’t told me some of those before?”

“Maybe it’s hard for him to relive the memories,” Dad says.

“Or maybe…maybe you’ve never really asked,” Mom teases.

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” I say.

“Want to know the reason I became a teacher?” Mom says.

“Because you were always teacher’s pet?”

She laughs. “When I was a kid Tatang would try to tell me what it was like when he and Nanang came to California—but I was never curious. Then in high school I did a report on American immigration, so I interviewed him. I had never seen my grandfather as a person with a full life that happened before I existed. It made me appreciate what my family had been through for me. The sad part was when I did my research, I didn’t find much in history books about Filipinos, even though we’ve had a big role in American history. That’s when I decided I wanted to help people understand how important our stories are.”

“Mom, that’s so cool.”

“I wish I’d taken time to learn more about my history while my grandparents were alive,” Dad says. “A lot of kids never get to know their great-grandparents. You’re lucky, Kaia.”

That bad thought sneaks back into my head: one day I won’t have Tatang in my life at all.

“What happens when…,” I start, but I have a hard time saying what I’m thinking.

“What is it?” Mom says. “It’s okay, you can ask.”

“What happens…when Tatang passes away?”

My parents look at each other.

“We’ll get to that road when we have to, but now’s not that time,” Mom says.

I can hear Tatang in my head:

Kaia, where are your feet?

I’m here with my parents, in our home, watching them watching me.

“Mom and Dad…are you…are you upset I don’t want to be a doctor?”

“You’re asking a fellow artist?” Dad chuckles. “Where’s this coming from, kiddo?”

“During his lecture Tatang talked about figuring out who you are. What does that even mean?”

“I think he meant what makes us unique. And according to Tatang, each of us has at least ninety years to figure that out.” Mom smiles at me.

“Everything Lainey does always seems so extra special, like deciding she’s premed. Must feel pretty great to figure it out, huh?”

Dad pulls me into a squeeze. “Did I ever tell you that your lolo and lola didn’t want me to go to art school? They wanted me to be a doctor or a nurse or an accountant—all the things that didn’t feel like me.”

“How did you know what did?” I ask.

“It was

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