<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="o-vr o-vr_12x" style="margin: 0px 0px 60px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial;"><div class="c-feature" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.231;"><div class="c-feature-hd" style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 class="c-hdgSans_2 c-mix-hdgSans_inline c-hdgSans" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; line-height: 1.231; font-weight: normal;"><font size="4" class="">Kinship</font></h1></div><div class="c-feature-sub_vast c-feature-sub" style="margin: 0px 0px 33px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-style: inherit; text-indent: -1em;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">Two sets<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">of family stories,<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">one long and detailed,<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">about many centuries<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">of island ancestors, all living<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">on the same tropical farm...<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">The other side of the family tells stories<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">that are brief and vague, about violence<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">in the Ukraine, which Dad's parents<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">had to flee forever, leaving all their<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">loved ones<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">behind.<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">They don't even know if anyone<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">survived.<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">When Mami tells her flowery tales of Cuba,<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">she fills the twining words with relatives.<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">But when I ask my<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">Ukrainian-Jewish-American grandma<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">about her childhood in a village<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">near snowy Kiev,<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">all she reveals is a single<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">memory<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">of ice-skating<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">on a frozen pond.<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">Apparently, the length<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">of a grown-up's<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">growing-up story<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">is determined<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">by the difference<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">between immigration<br class=""></div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class="">and escape.</div><div style="font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-style: inherit; white-space: pre;"> </span>- Margarita Engle</div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 20px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -1em;" class=""><br class=""></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>