contents - Gallatin School of Individualized Study - New York ...

Faviola MolineroFAVIOLA MOLINERO Passing Down44Sing a Songwhen my first nephew was born, I was studying back in Mexico, so it tookme some time to meet him here in the United States. I finally met himwhen he was one month old. He was the little baby boy in the house, and I didn’twant to be far away from him. When I first saw him, he was small, beautiful andfragile. He is very important to me. I’m going to tell you why.When I visited my nephew for the first time, I stayed in my sister’s housefor two weeks, and every day I sang the same song until the baby fell asleep in myarms. I felt sad when I left him to go back to school in Mexico, but I couldn’t stayfor more days.It turned out that singing every day created a big problem because when I wasaway, my sister called me every night to ask me to sing to my little nephew before sleep.He got so accustomed to my voice that when my sister tried to sing the same song,my nephew only cried and cried and couldn’t sleep.For the next two months, when the baby couldn’t stop crying, my sistercalled me and begged me, “Please, can you sing to Christopher to calm him down?”While for some people, like my brother, my singing voice is not agreeable,for the little baby in the house it was just perfect because it brought him peace andtranquility. But my poor sister, she couldn’t calm my nephew down and told him,“No more songs before sleep!”Now my nephew is four years old, and he has a little sister. When she talksto me on the phone, my niece sings me different songs. I can’t really understandwhat my niece sings to me because she’s just a little baby, and she can’t speak verywell yet. But it’s very nice for me because I remember how in other moments oflife, I sang for my nephew, and now my niece sings for me.Faviola Molinero, who is 26 years old, comes from Sinaloa, Mexico. She haslived in the United States for three years and in New York for six months. “Istudied computer systems in my country. I like to draw and listen to music.Now I study English at Make the Road New York. I want to thank my teacher,Gabriela O’Leary, for teaching me and treating me like a friend. I also thankGod, my family, and my friends for everything you give me in my life.”