Wait
Part I: Home Chapter 3
by Burnham, GabriellaElise’s college years were marked by financial constraints that limited her ability to travel home, leading her to find summer work at the campus library and form close bonds with international students. These friendships exposed her to diverse cultures and cuisines, offering a sense of community during breaks when most students returned home. Unlike her peers, Elise did not experience the typical summer separation from family, a dynamic she had long observed on her island, where seasonal visitors came and went. This unique upbringing shaped her understanding of identity and belonging, blending the rhythms of home life with the academic world.
Upon starting college, Elise noticed the contrasting ways parents engaged with their children. Many stayed through orientation, helping with logistics and maintaining constant contact, while Elise’s own mother, Gilda, maintained a more distant but caring presence. Gilda’s infrequent calls, though sparse, carried deep significance, revealing a quiet affection despite their physical and emotional distance. This subtle connection underscored the complexities of their relationship, shaped by Gilda’s struggles as a young immigrant mother navigating new challenges far from her homeland.
Gilda’s backstory reveals a journey marked by hardship and resilience. Pregnant at twenty and separated from Elise’s father, she faced familial rejection and the demands of raising two daughters largely on her own. Her life as a cook in demanding jobs left little time for social connections, with only work colleagues who spoke a different language for companionship. Yet a rekindled friendship with an old friend from Brazil brought a rare moment of joy and escape, symbolized by a brief trip to Cape Cod, which also highlighted the family’s limited resources and the sacrifices Gilda made daily.
The chapter closes with a poignant scene of Gilda preparing to leave Elise and her sister Sophie alone overnight for the first time. Despite her anxiety, she reassures them with practical instructions and expressions of trust, while the girls display a mix of concern and responsibility. This moment encapsulates the evolving dynamics within the family, reflecting themes of independence, care, and the delicate balance between absence and presence that defines their lives. The narrative captures the quiet strength of a mother’s love amid hardship and the resilience of children adapting to uncertain circumstances.
FAQs
1. How did Elise’s financial situation influence her summer activities during college, and what cultural experiences did she gain from these choices?
Answer:
Elise’s limited financial resources prevented her from traveling extensively along the East Coast during her college summers. Instead, she worked at the campus library and spent winter holidays with a group of international students on F-1 visas. This experience exposed her to diverse cultural traditions, such as eating lamb haleem and mango sticky rice, and listening to Broadway musical soundtracks. These interactions broadened her cultural understanding and created a sense of community despite financial constraints, contrasting with the typical summer breaks her classmates had.2. In what ways did Elise’s relationship with her mother, Gilda, differ from those of her college peers with their parents?
Answer:
Unlike many of Elise’s classmates whose parents actively participated in their college orientation and daily lives, Gilda was more distant and less involved. Gilda called only a few times after Elise left for college, reflecting a more reserved relationship. Elise appreciated not having a hovering parent but also felt embarrassed by the infrequency of her mother’s calls. This dynamic highlights Gilda’s struggle balancing work, immigration challenges, and motherhood, contrasting with the more hands-on support other students received from their families.3. How did Gilda’s immigration status and work situation impact her family life and relationship with her daughters?
Answer:
Gilda’s immigration status, marked by expired work visas, and demanding work hours profoundly affected her family life. She worked long, late shifts at various kitchens, including a French-fusion restaurant, often returning home exhausted and leaving her daughters to care for themselves. This led to moments of emotional distance and anxiety for both Gilda and her children, especially when Gilda left them alone overnight for the first time. Her limited social circle and longing for her youth in São Paulo further complicated her ability to provide consistent emotional support.4. Analyze the significance of Gilda receiving an email from her childhood friend Marina and how it affected her relationship with her daughters.
Answer:
The email from Marina, an old friend from São Paulo, symbolized a rare connection to Gilda’s past and a moment of personal joy amidst her challenging circumstances. Planning to meet Marina in Cape Cod required Gilda to take time off work, which surprised her daughters who believed she had no days off except Christmas. This event marked a turning point, illustrating Gilda’s need for adult companionship and personal fulfillment outside motherhood. It also generated anxiety in her daughters about being left alone, highlighting the tension between Gilda’s individual needs and her maternal responsibilities.5. What themes related to family dynamics and cultural identity emerge from this chapter, and how are they illustrated through the characters’ experiences?
Answer:
The chapter explores themes of separation, cultural identity, and the complexity of immigrant family dynamics. Elise’s observations about summer visitors returning home and her own nontraditional breaks reflect a fluid sense of belonging. Gilda’s struggles with immigration, work, and loneliness reveal the sacrifices immigrant parents make and the emotional toll on both generations. The daughters’ mixed feelings about independence and reliance on their mother underscore the tension between growing up and maintaining family bonds. Together, these elements portray the nuanced challenges of forging identity and connection within a fragmented yet resilient family structure.
Quotes
1. “Did it bother Elise that she didn’t spend months away on summer break with her family, cultivating separation between home and work, education and identity, like most of her classmates? Not really. She had observed this formation her entire life, every summer, when tens of thousands of visitors occupied the island, only to return to their real homes before the Northeastern gales began to blow.”
This quote introduces a central theme of the chapter: the complex and nontraditional relationship Elise has with the idea of home and separation. It highlights the contrast between Elise’s experience and that of her peers, emphasizing her unique perspective shaped by her upbringing and environment.
2. “When Gilda told her mother she was having a baby with an Irish bartender she met at work, whom she said she had fallen in love with, no less, her mother told her she’d better pray her baby would be born with ten fingers and ten toes, hung up the phone, and didn’t speak to her until she went into labor.”
This passage reveals the difficult family dynamics and cultural tensions underlying Elise’s early life. It underscores Gilda’s isolation and the harsh realities she faced as a young immigrant mother, setting the emotional backdrop for the chapter’s exploration of family and resilience.
3. “Gilda’s favorite moments were when they piled into bed to watch Law & Order together, and the girls would fall asleep tucked into Gilda’s armpits. They always looked like little cherubs when they slept, even as they lost their baby faces.”
This intimate and tender scene captures the fleeting moments of closeness and comfort in a challenging family life. It symbolizes the warmth and love that persist despite hardship, and it humanizes the characters beyond their struggles.
4. “It will be like when I work a double and you don’t see me until the next morning, she said. Just pretend like I’m coming home while you’re still sleeping.”
Here, Gilda tries to reassure her daughters about her absence, reflecting the sacrifices and compromises immigrant parents often make. This quote encapsulates the tension between responsibility and emotional connection, highlighting a key emotional turning point in the chapter.
5. “Elise could feel that her mother was nervous, the way she kept wiping the edges of her mouth and swallowing air in knots. It made Elise want to reassure her that she and Sophie would be fine through the night, even though her skin had a tingling feeling that she didn’t want to be left alone.”
This closing moment captures the reciprocal anxiety and care within the family, illustrating the emotional complexity of separation and trust. It poignantly conveys the chapter’s core exploration of home as both a physical and emotional space.