“God sends each of us to earth helpless. It’s a given that we must depend on our family from the beginning. By design, we are given a family to provide for us, to protect us, and to prepare us for the challenges we’ll face in the years ahead.”

This quote illustrates the importance of family and how they are there from the beginning. They shield you from the mistakes they have made, they help guide you on your own path, and they will always be permanently tattooed as your family tree. To connect this quote to a given passage in the book, “Tino”, highlighting familial love is what radiated to a little boy as he grew up. While life is forever changing, there is a need for a family to fall back to and to have faith in. In return, they are faithful to you. Romantic love is not as reliable as familial love, as it comes and goes frequently. Romantic partners change, maintaining the relationship isn’t always guaranteed…but family stays and maintains each relationship within it.

“Everyone’s there… And we are gathered again… The sound of the trumpets caresses our hearts and Mami’s gentle sobbing sways in the cool wind of March.”

Personally speaking, I feel as though this is a great quote as well as a great  passage all together. It shows how much the author wanted to highlight the love and support that fell behind this little boy. He had a strong family supporting him and a foundation of close connections to each member. This only emphasizes the reliability and longevity that familial love provides that romantic love cannot.

While I noticed in Canicula there was a much greater presence of familial love rather than romantic love, it was a bit difficult to find an equal presence of romantic love. What can be accurately implied, however, is that familial bonds help to teach the importance of respecting bonds with other people in order to hopefully create the same connections. In this book, Cantu documents the lives around her, becoming so familiar with people that it results in a love of familiarity. Love doesn’t always have to be romantic – it can be more based on who you care for and want the best for. She surrounds herself with this familiarity and feels a sense of love that fulfils the void of not having a romantic relationship.

I chose this image because the author is a woman of color, on a journey. She is so full of color, a mixture of races and personalities.  She writes people’s stories like graffiti in pages, stuck on the page forever exposed to the world. Eyes closed to those who oppose, but face bright to encourage pride in her mind’s individuality.