How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
a woman of no-age who was never pretty,
who spends her days selling canned memories (8-9)
"Canned memories"—why didn't we think of this? It's a great way to keep those memories fresh and tasty. Here we realize that this deli has a lot more on its shelves than just overpriced coffee.
Quote #2
[…] Cubans perfecting their speech
of a "glorious return" to Havana--where no one
has been allowed to die and nothing to change until then; (13-15)
The notion that nothing "has been allowed" to change since they left shows us just how important memory is to the Cubans—and really everyone who shops at the deli. They're hope is that their past has stayed exactly as they remember it. More than that, they hope to go back and visit it some day.
Quote #3
reading the labels of packages aloud, as if
they were the names of lost lovers; Suspiros,
Merengues, the stale candy of everyone's childhood. (26-28)
Mmm… nothing says connection to the past like a fistful of stale candy. As hard as it may be to believe, the candy's not what matters here, though. It's what the candy represents that counts: a childhood treat, a connection to the past.