Just One Thing with Andy Lopez

Andy Lopez’s flash “How Filipino of Us” uses a vibrant collage of images to give us a moment of transition between cultures, showing us the leaving and the left. Here they share just one thing about the piece:

“The last image of this story came to me right from the start. Somehow, just like the characters in the story, it felt like this flash piece came out of me sure-footed, knowing exactly where to go. As a kid I hated having to take off my shoes before entering our house. You had outside slippers and inside slippers; interchanging them was a grave sin. My mom made a whole ceremony out of it. We’d hoard several pairs of guest slippers, in different sizes and knockoff Disney prints, all in a cabinet of its own. A stool was at the door, alongside the shoe rack and disinfecting foot mat. Two guests or twenty, we were always ready.

Now that I’m older, I have much more appreciation for the great care and attention she put into welcoming people in our home.”