[Letter]
Hi Mom,
How have you been? Last night I dreamed that my bed caught on fire.
Have you ever had a dream like that? I know there are some types of dreams that everybody has.
Like falling. Or dreams where you die, or you’re drowning …
This one, about my bed catching on fire, is a recurring dream.
Like Zulmara, who had those nightmares about that giant rabbit …
Remember how she always used to talk about that?
How is Zulmara? Have you heard from her?
I miss you and all your friends who lived in our house with us.
It was always so lively. I liked how we’d have lunch and dinner around that giant table outside, covered in huge platters of delicious home-cooked food.
It tasted a little like the countryside, and a mother’s love.
Zulmara, Emanuelle, Nylda, Norma, and Sonia all used to spoil me.
They’d pinch my cheeks and tell funny stories about me for everyone to hear. I loved it. I really miss those times.
The other day, I remembered something you used to say to me: “Stories about food are stories about ourselves.” I always thought that was so beautiful, but I never really understood it until now.
I think of you whenever I taste a piece of well-seasoned pork, when I smell chimichurri, or when I feel like eating tapioca.
And I think about the stories you told me, how you’d stroke my hair and remind me to bury those bags in the backyard.
Food nourishes the body and soul, but it also helps you to remember.
Here in Rio, the guys don’t spend much time at the apartment.
Since I’ve been working from home, I get kind of lonely and don’t eat very well.
We rarely sit around the table together.
But today things are going to be different.
Hugo is going to prepare a special dinner.
We invited some friends over to eat seagull meat, have you ever had it?
I wish you were here to try it with us. I bet you’d like it.
And it would be so great to see you again. I miss you.
God bless you.
With love,
Leit?o
PS Cora sends her love and says she can’t wait to meet you.