How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #7
She was not as heavy as I thought and when I carried her in my arms, her body fell into a V, and yet my legs were tired, shaky, and I felt as if the distance between the bedroom and bathroom was miles and years away. (15)
Carrying her grandmother's dead body to the bathroom is the final step in the narrator's ritual. The distance between the bed and the bathroom though isn't just measured in spatial distance, though; it's also temporal. By dealing with her grandmother's death, the narrator gains years of experience. Death makes her grow up.
Quote #8
I bent my knees slowly to descend into the water slowly so I wouldn't scald her skin. (16)
Even though her grandmother is dead, the narrator acts as though her body can still feel. She is careful not to burn her grandmother, as though lowering a baby into a warm bath. It's like the full weight of her grandmother's death hasn't yet registered.
Quote #9
Then the moths came. Small, gray ones that came from her soul and out through her mouth fluttering to light, circling the single dull light bulb of the bathroom. (16)
Even though Abuelita is dead, there is a part of her that continues to live. The moths have been living in her soul with her throughout her life, and now that she's gone they come out into the world; they find new light. The narrator can see them, just like she can feel her grandmother's presence. For more on this little creatures, hop over to the "Symbols" section—they're kind of a big deal.