WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.510 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.510 --> 00:00:07.720 align:middle line:84% I have spent the last 15 months working on a new project. 00:00:07.720 --> 00:00:14.580 align:middle line:84% It's a family memoir, tentatively titled Voices from 00:00:14.580 --> 00:00:18.900 align:middle line:90% the Garden, Voces del Jardín. 00:00:18.900 --> 00:00:22.200 align:middle line:84% My father died two years ago, and I 00:00:22.200 --> 00:00:24.780 align:middle line:84% don't know whether that was the final catalyst. 00:00:24.780 --> 00:00:27.180 align:middle line:84% I had gotten interested in the idea of tape 00:00:27.180 --> 00:00:32.130 align:middle line:84% recording my family and had not done nearly enough. 00:00:32.130 --> 00:00:34.710 align:middle line:90% But I had done some. 00:00:34.710 --> 00:00:38.100 align:middle line:84% And I have said to some audiences 00:00:38.100 --> 00:00:41.850 align:middle line:84% that I had finally gathered a lot of material, 00:00:41.850 --> 00:00:43.470 align:middle line:84% a lot of things I was interested in. 00:00:43.470 --> 00:00:48.090 align:middle line:84% And for a while I felt as if every morning there 00:00:48.090 --> 00:00:50.820 align:middle line:84% was all this stuff by my front door. 00:00:50.820 --> 00:00:52.950 align:middle line:84% And I had to crawl over it to get out, 00:00:52.950 --> 00:00:54.510 align:middle line:84% because I just couldn't figure out 00:00:54.510 --> 00:00:59.430 align:middle line:84% what was the structure going to be for this book. 00:00:59.430 --> 00:01:03.120 align:middle line:84% And the first part is all that gathering. 00:01:03.120 --> 00:01:07.960 align:middle line:84% But the part about structure, of course, is a real challenge. 00:01:07.960 --> 00:01:12.480 align:middle line:84% And I finally decided that I was going to build a house 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:14.640 align:middle line:84% and that that's what this was going to be. 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:16.660 align:middle line:84% And I started thinking about that. 00:01:16.660 --> 00:01:18.630 align:middle line:84% And then, as I got to thinking more, 00:01:18.630 --> 00:01:22.110 align:middle line:84% I realized that, of course, if you're 00:01:22.110 --> 00:01:24.210 align:middle line:84% willing to take this leap of faith-- 00:01:24.210 --> 00:01:27.060 align:middle line:84% as I looked around at the terrain for me 00:01:27.060 --> 00:01:29.820 align:middle line:84% to consider that the house was always there, 00:01:29.820 --> 00:01:32.430 align:middle line:84% that it was the house that I inherited, 00:01:32.430 --> 00:01:37.080 align:middle line:84% the body of stories in which I dwell, and that, really, 00:01:37.080 --> 00:01:40.860 align:middle line:84% I was coming along to make some additions 00:01:40.860 --> 00:01:42.940 align:middle line:90% and to make some changes. 00:01:42.940 --> 00:01:49.210 align:middle line:84% So the book is divided into the months of the year. 00:01:49.210 --> 00:01:52.920 align:middle line:84% And so in every chapter, in effect, 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:55.860 align:middle line:84% there will be something about this garden, something 00:01:55.860 --> 00:01:58.170 align:middle line:90% about the liturgy of the church. 00:01:58.170 --> 00:02:01.230 align:middle line:84% Because I spent the first 17 years of my life sure 00:02:01.230 --> 00:02:03.690 align:middle line:84% I was going to be a nun, a fact that 00:02:03.690 --> 00:02:06.390 align:middle line:84% is a great surprise to my three children. 00:02:06.390 --> 00:02:10.919 align:middle line:84% But I was very serious about this. 00:02:10.919 --> 00:02:14.730 align:middle line:84% And then, of course, there are central stories 00:02:14.730 --> 00:02:15.540 align:middle line:90% to every chapter. 00:02:15.540 --> 00:02:20.860 align:middle line:84% And I wanted to share just one little tidbit from it. 00:02:20.860 --> 00:02:24.120 align:middle line:84% One of the risks I'm taking in the book 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:28.950 align:middle line:84% is that I am collapsing time, trying 00:02:28.950 --> 00:02:33.940 align:middle line:84% to capture the way I think the dead live in us. 00:02:33.940 --> 00:02:41.860 align:middle line:84% And that is that we hear them and that we do interact 00:02:41.860 --> 00:02:42.760 align:middle line:90% with them. 00:02:42.760 --> 00:02:45.010 align:middle line:84% The aunt that I have written so much about, 00:02:45.010 --> 00:02:47.170 align:middle line:84% for those of you who know my work, 00:02:47.170 --> 00:02:50.680 align:middle line:84% she is a voice and a presence to me. 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:53.650 align:middle line:84% And I wanted to try to capture that in the book. 00:02:53.650 --> 00:02:55.570 align:middle line:84% And of course, you never know if you succeed. 00:02:55.570 --> 00:02:58.210 align:middle line:90% 00:02:58.210 --> 00:03:01.750 align:middle line:84% In the little vignette that I'm going to read you, 00:03:01.750 --> 00:03:06.940 align:middle line:84% you're going to encounter two people who actually are dead-- 00:03:06.940 --> 00:03:11.710 align:middle line:84% my dad who died two years ago and a great grandmother I never 00:03:11.710 --> 00:03:12.970 align:middle line:90% knew. 00:03:12.970 --> 00:03:16.270 align:middle line:84% But there is a story in the family about her 00:03:16.270 --> 00:03:18.130 align:middle line:84% that I thought was a great story. 00:03:18.130 --> 00:03:21.460 align:middle line:84% And it's this little vignette that I want to share with you. 00:03:21.460 --> 00:03:24.820 align:middle line:90% 00:03:24.820 --> 00:03:28.510 align:middle line:84% "In the kitchen, I see Abuela Tomasa 00:03:28.510 --> 00:03:33.310 align:middle line:84% selecting the softest apricots from the wooden bowl 00:03:33.310 --> 00:03:36.670 align:middle line:90% at the center of the table. 00:03:36.670 --> 00:03:38.560 align:middle line:90% ¿Qué haces, abuela? 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:42.370 align:middle line:90% my father asks from behind me. 00:03:42.370 --> 00:03:44.700 align:middle line:90% Nada, nada, querido. 00:03:44.700 --> 00:03:50.200 align:middle line:84% Tomasa, secretive in her 90s, gathers the fruit 00:03:50.200 --> 00:03:55.870 align:middle line:84% in her small wrinkled hands, scrutinizes each globe, 00:03:55.870 --> 00:04:02.110 align:middle line:84% selecting only the best, unblemished, the ripest. 00:04:02.110 --> 00:04:07.000 align:middle line:84% Hoping no one's watching, she tiptoes away from us, 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:12.220 align:middle line:84% looks around, then quickly opens the door to a room. 00:04:12.220 --> 00:04:18.279 align:middle line:84% She turns on the radio and whispers to the man in there, 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:22.630 align:middle line:84% the man who croons his romantic songs-- 00:04:22.630 --> 00:04:30.310 align:middle line:90% (SINGING) Besame, besame mucho. 00:04:30.310 --> 00:04:33.420 align:middle line:84% She whispers to him, mira, aquí te traigo [? chabacanes ?] 00:04:33.420 --> 00:04:35.295 align:middle line:84% frescos, pero por favor, cántame en voz baja. 00:04:35.295 --> 00:04:43.390 align:middle line:90% 00:04:43.390 --> 00:04:47.470 align:middle line:84% She places the apricots behind the radio, 00:04:47.470 --> 00:04:52.300 align:middle line:84% the secret spot where she leaves him what she can. 00:04:52.300 --> 00:04:56.020 align:middle line:84% Last night, a piece of laberintos, 00:04:56.020 --> 00:04:59.230 align:middle line:84% labyrinths of sugar, that my father 00:04:59.230 --> 00:05:02.650 align:middle line:90% enjoys when she's not looking. 00:05:02.650 --> 00:05:06.670 align:middle line:84% 'Shh, shh, cállate, she daily pleads, 00:05:06.670 --> 00:05:11.620 align:middle line:84% with the stubborn ardent radio suitor to control himself, 00:05:11.620 --> 00:05:15.220 align:middle line:84% not wanting her family embarrassed again by his 00:05:15.220 --> 00:05:21.700 align:middle line:84% antics, his endless songs of unrestrained love. 00:05:21.700 --> 00:05:25.450 align:middle line:84% The last recorded words I have of my father, 00:05:25.450 --> 00:05:29.110 align:middle line:84% he's talking about Tomasa saying, 00:05:29.110 --> 00:05:34.660 align:middle line:84% she'd listen to those love songs and imagine. 00:05:34.660 --> 00:05:37.780 align:middle line:90% What would she imagine, daddy? 00:05:37.780 --> 00:05:42.460 align:middle line:84% The dead still move through the house, through our lives, 00:05:42.460 --> 00:05:46.750 align:middle line:84% but their audio and videotaping days are over. 00:05:46.750 --> 00:05:48.670 align:middle line:90% No, they say. 00:05:48.670 --> 00:05:50.740 align:middle line:90% No. 00:05:50.740 --> 00:05:55.090 align:middle line:84% Tomasa puts her vain hand over her mouth, 00:05:55.090 --> 00:06:02.440 align:middle line:84% hiding from the amorous radioman her delight in what he sings. 00:06:02.440 --> 00:06:07.210 align:middle line:84% She laughs to herself, savors his passion, 00:06:07.210 --> 00:06:13.540 align:middle line:84% filling the room heavy as jasmine in its fragrance. 00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:19.820 align:middle line:84% Our great grandmother dances with his voice." 00:06:19.820 --> 00:06:21.630 align:middle line:90% So I'm sorry I didn't know her. 00:06:21.630 --> 00:06:23.780 align:middle line:84% She sounds like a wonderful person. 00:06:23.780 --> 00:06:30.530 align:middle line:84% And I'm interested in the power of radio in women's lives. 00:06:30.530 --> 00:06:34.940 align:middle line:84% I say in the book they croon to us 00:06:34.940 --> 00:06:38.020 align:middle line:90% in the way we long to be loved.