Rain of Gold

And in that moment of sun and joy, Lupe knew why she loved and also hated Salvador. He gave her wings. He didn't try to lock her in, as had Jaime and the other boys she'd known. No, she could dream her wildest dreams with him and so she loved him for this; but she also hated him because it made her fearful. No one in her family was like this. They were always very cautious.

Mi hijito, I've told you a thousand times, if you speak badly of people, God will punish you and make you just like them.

Oh, if only I could hurt with such misery once again, to feel the powers of love here inside my heart, the joys of heaven and the pains of hell!

You are the machos, the life, the future of our families. You are all that's left, so you must protect our mothers and grow and do good and have families of your own. I love you. I do. I do.

And so, there in the penitentiary, Juan's education began. He didn't want to be a puto weakling, so he worked hard at learning to read. His earthly body was locked up, but his mind was set free as a young eagle soaring through the heavens.

For this is God’s great plan, that people rise up beyond their personal hatreds, here, right now, in this new land where so many different people with so many different bloods have come to join together and that we recognize we are all the children of God! Every one of us!

Rich is the cream of the fat cow's milk," she said. "Rich is the love of God that we receive each new day! Rich isn't gold! Gold is only for people that are poor of heart!

Inside, the midwife was trying to get Socorro to open her mouth wide and let the pain come out. "Open your mouth," said Angelina, massaging Socorro's neck and shoulders, "and let out what you feel. Don't keep it in, querida, let it out." Socorro cried softly at first, but little by little she loosened up and she began to let out long, ear-piercing screams. "Good," said the midwife, "now breathe deeply, deeply, and then cry out again, letting all the pain go out of your body.

Let us pray,” said Doña Guadalupe, and they all knelt down. And as they prayed and Lupe saw the eastern sky growing yellow and rose and pink, she felt herself fill with such power, with such a strength and well-being, that she just knew in her bones that life was eternal. Her eyes filled with tears, she felt so close to these women. The whole world sang and danced before her very eyes as the cycle of life continued and the new day came forth in all its wondrous beauty—a gift from God.