People will ask you why you return to Oaxaca every summer (instead of venturing somewhere new).

Sometimes you will offer that Mexico is brimming with magic ripe for your writing, that you can’t resist harvesting a summer full of stories.

Other times, you might ramble off the importance of immersing yourself in language. You may even offer this in your slow Spanish with an imperfect accent to prove you must return again.

You might explain that you like the pace of Mexico at the end of a long semester.

However, you never tell the truth.

Some of your favorite children live there and you are desperate to witness them grow up full of joy.