Sitting down at her mother’s kitchen table, attentively leaning forward, her dainty fingers gripping to her freshly made cup of coffee, creating yet another coffee mug stain; Claudia savors this time. Surrounded by her family, reminiscing on the days when her siblings and her were adolescents. As her hazelnut eyes squint and crinkle on the corners of her eyes, her high-pitched laugh fills the room, catching her breath, she’s at her most radiant. At this particular moment, Claudia obliterates all the hardship she has been through and catching up among her family is all that seems to matter. “I regret a lot of what I’ve done, but I know if it wasn’t for what I’ve experienced, I wouldn’t be able to appreciate what I have now.” She remains deep
