Last Drop of a Holy Drink: 🦋 "Holy Mother, Full of Grace"
My Mexican Mother and The American Dream
Welcome
Hello! I’m Emily Lupita. I’m a travel writer & artist from rural Iowa currently living between my hometown south of Des Moines - and Ankara, the capital of Turkiye. I’m also an English teacher & editor.
Last Drop of a Holy Drink is an autobiographical novel (in progress) on - Emily Lupita Explores - a creativity journal where I share ​explorations from my art desk & cultural travels, as well as motherhood with my two Autistic sons.
"Holy Mother, Full of Grace"
Emily Lupita
Last Drop of a Holy Drink
WIP 2024
Holy Mother, Full of Grace
The snowflakes landing on Juana Maria’s eyelids reminded her of the first time she’d felt snow, on her very first day in Iowa. She was twelve. She had made the journey North from the desert of Central Mexico, all the way up the melon circuit to the fertile soil of the Midwest. It was almost November when Juana arrived at her aunt’s house in Davenport, a yellow house with a porch view of the Mississippi. The air was crisp and cold in a way she’d never known. The snowflakes were wonders, each one a masterpiece of infinite potential.Â
Juana Maria tried to brush the snowflakes from her eyelids but couldn’t move her hands. She couldn’t open her eyes. Juana could only hear the sound of helicopter blades and the cries of her firstborn son. This didn’t make sense to Juana because her son was grown, past forty years old now, and he hadn’t cried out like that since he was a baby. Juana knew she was close to her ex-husband, Joseph. So close she could smell him. He had a very particular smell of firewood and sage that she loved and hated at the same time. No one else smelled this way. Being near him again was also quite strange because they had been divorced for the last twenty-some years. Joseph was still strong. Even after all the agony lost between them, she still felt at home in his arms.Â
Juana could hear Joseph’s breathing against her neck as he held her motionless body against his chest to shield her from the force of the helicopter landing nearby. Joseph was an old man now.
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