September 4, 2020
I Don't Know Her Story
She walks out into the sala, living room, with her housemates, and greets me with a smile. “Hi, Ate, I missed you…” she says softly. (Ate is the Tagalog word for “older sister”, a term of respect.) Out of respect to her healing, I don’t offer my arms for a hug. She doesn’t have to hug me if she doesn’t want to. She was forced to have too much physical contact before...