The Distance Between Us By Reyna Grande Rogriguez

The Distance Between Us is a compelling memoir describing Reyna Grande Rogriguez’s turbulent life while first living as an “orphan” in Mexico and her journey in “el otro lado” (the United States). Her experiences as a child, teen, and young adult help to shape who she becomes: A brilliant author.

The story begins in Reyna’s birthplace of Iguala, Mexico. She is the youngest of three children, all born into poverty in Mexico. Her father, Natalio, left their family for the U.S. in search of a better life for his family and at this point in her story, their mother is leaving to help their father in pursuit of the same goal. Reyna, her older brother, and her older sister Mago are left in the care of their stern and cruel grandmother, who is already

overburdened while also caring for one of Reyna’s cousins. At this point, Mago becomes a sort of surrogate mother and becomes one of the most influential people in Reyna’s life. While constantly yearning for their parent’s promised return, they live in poverty for years, despite the money that their grandmother receives for their care from her parents.
Years later, their mother returns to them, but as they will come to learn, she is not the same woman that left.

She returns to Mexico after Natalio has remarried another woman, making her a bitter and jaded woman who has trouble connecting with the children she left so long ago. She also returns to Mexico with another child whom she had in the U.S. with Natalio. Reyna and her siblings are moved to their other grandmother’s (on their mother’s side), whom is even more impoverished than their other grandmother. Reyna and her siblings are happier living here despite the terrible conditions. Their mother leaves them, in the care of this grandmother, two more times. Once to Acapulco with her boyfriend and again to another town in Mexico which is closer to her

job.
Eventually, their father returns to Iguala and finds his children shockingly impoverished. Natalio decides that they will return with him and his new wife to the U.S., all except their American born sibling, Betty, whom their mother will not let return to the U.S. out of spite. They illegally cross the border and end up in Los Angeles. Here, they find that their life is not all that they imagined it would be in the U.S. Their father turns out to be an abusive, alcoholic not capable of forming the loving relationship that his children so desire. Reyna constantly looks for ways to impress him such as learning english, achieving A’s in her classes, winning writing contests, or performing in the marching band. His lack of praise, love, or even acknowledgment only makes her try harder. However, Reyna does not vilify her father, she includes the bad with the good because it shapes who she becomes.
Their toxic relationship eventually deteriorates to the point where Reyna leaves and goes to live with a previous English professor. This relationship, besides for her relationship with her sister, becomes one of the most influential. Here, with her professor, she finds her love of reading and writing and eventually decides to go to a university in pursuit of becoming an writer. During this time before she leaves for college, her father is diagnosed with cancer, and with this diagnosis and the fact that his wife has left him, Reyna and her father’s relationship actually improves, but is broken again when he reunites with his wife. Reyna finishes college and goes on to live a fulfilled life as a writer and starts her own family.
Several times she references “the distance between us” in reference to the distance between her and her mother, her and her father, and her and her birthplace, etc. and each distance has a profound effect on her life. She uses these distances and their effects to push her in achieving her dreams.
From a community health perspective, there are many interventions that could have helped Reyna and her family live a better life.

They could have used a public health department office for very inexpensive (sometimes free) medical treatment, evaluations, and immunizations. Luckily they did not contract any bad diseases, like measles, tetanus, pertussis, etc. they were put at great risk by being poor, their cramped and over populated living situation, poor diet, and lack of access to medical treatments. Vaccinations would have given them protection. The entire family could have obtained nutritional education on how to eat healthfully on a very limited budget. While not all public health clinics offer dental services, some do and this would have been very beneficial for this family. Renya had to illegally use her step-sister’s dental insurance to take care of an extraction. Good dental hygiene impacts all aspects of health and untreated infections can lead to systemic infections that cause numerous other complications, that end up being more costly than preventative care. Mental health visits and counseling for the children could have helped with coping with their new environment, a mother that left constantly, and the broken relationship with their alcoholic father. Alcohol cessation programs could have helped their father overcome his addiction. Drug and alcohol education starting at a young age could have helped Betty avoid getting into drugs. Safe sex and pregnancy

education could help the family avoid having multiple children which they could not afford. There is a cultural and religious aspect that is involved with birth control and this culture, but at least the education would have been beneficial and if open to it, free birth control could have been beneficial. There are many facets to public health that could have been utilized by this family, which were not: Maybe due to limited knowledge of public health programs, the language barrier, or the fear of being deported if they used any of these benefits kept them from using any of these resources.