A Place at the Table
By Monica Freitas Argentina
The sunflower tablecloth in the center of the table, bright and vibrant, lights up the household. It’s the first thing your eyes latch onto when walking into the kitchen that welcomes everyone back together at the end of a long day. That shiny vinyl tablecloth has been through it all too, a constant in their everyday lives. When they get home from work, tired yet holding a place for them, silently hailing them to come sit down for a meal. The tablecloth that rests their elbows still covered in dirt from the repetitive, backbreaking action of bending and picking crops every day. The inviting tablecloth that says “A comer!” when it’s time to eat and families gather around to enjoy their cena . It holds up the pots and plates of food, catching the grains of rice that fall off to the side once they finally sit down, take a big sigh of relief, and begin to eat. It feels the inviting warmth of the tortillero as hands snatch the tortillas inside one by one. It becomes the one place where, for just a moment each day, everyone is together. The sunflower tablecloth lives through it all, capturing the shouts of joy and laughter with the family all together, cackling and reminiscing about a funny story from back in the day. The sunflower tablecloth embraces them as tears fall from their cheeks during phone calls with families that are thousands of miles away. The countless sacrifices they have to make on a daily basis, just to feel that they are barely able to stay afloat. That tablecloth listens to all the conversations and comforts them at all hours of the day. It wakes up with them at 4 am when it is time to get ready for their long day ahead. It holds the bandana that she later puts on as she looks in the mirror, pulling her hair tightly into a colita . The thick, oversized sweaters and black puffer jackets that they wear as armor to protect themselves from the
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