Abuela, Don't Forget Me

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses domestic abuse and discrimination.

When Rex Ogle calls his abuela (grandmother) nowadays, the conversation is circuitous due to her diagnosed dementia. She will ask Ogle, repeatedly, how work is and say she is glad that he graduated from college. Abuela is the person who encouraged Ogle to read and write, and who provided his family with food when his mother was unemployed. She provided a safe home for Ogle after the abuse in his mother’s home became too much, and saved Ogle’s life after his father kicked him out for being gay. Abuela has always encouraged Ogle’s dreams of becoming a writer and is the only person who ever showed Ogle true, unconditional love.

Despite their close bond, Abuela is forgetting Ogle, sometimes not knowing who he is when he calls her. This is devastating for Ogle, but he manages to not let his abuela know because he wants to “show her the same love and compassion she showed [him]” (viii). His strength falters when he hangs up the phone, and he often cries.

To process his emotions, Ogle often writes after getting off the phone with Abuela. Recalling memories of his childhood with Abuela makes him feel closer to her, remedying some of the sadness.