"I'd never seen such a healthy looking baby."

Grande, R. 2012. The Distance Between Us: A Memoir. (pp.69-72) New York, NY: Washington Square Press.

Reyna and her siblings had gone to the well to get some water for the house.  It is just normal day. The three of them are discussing their plans for later that evening with Tia Emperatriz.  As they arrive at the house Reyna notices a woman standing there.  The woman is holding a baby in her hands.  It finally hits Reyna - the woman is her mother.  Seeing her mother confused Reyna, but mostly because of the baby in her hands.  This was Reyna's sister.  She had heard of her, but never before had she seen her.  Yet another moment that Reyna will never forget.  Her first thought about the baby was "This little girl must have a lot of good food to eat, wherever she lives."   
Immediately Reyna notices a difference in her and her little sister.  These differences that Reyna sees are not a result of genetics.  They are a result of an upbringing - a lifestyle.  Reyna and her new little sister Elizabeth had the same parents, the same blood, but they had a completely different start, and Reyna noticed this.  I think Reyna was hurt by this.  Why couldn't she have had that chance?  Elizabeth will never know what it has been like for Reyna and her other two siblings.  She will never have to experience even the walk back from the well that Reyna just got back from.

While I think Reyna is somewhat hurt by the possible thought of this, we see that she takes comfort in being re-united with her mother.  As she carefully goes to hug her mother memories flood her mind.  Memories of who her mother was that she had seemed to have forgotten somewhere along the way.  But Reyna didn't only see these memories.  She saw a completely different future.  One without carrying water from wells.  One without being scolded by her grandmother.  One without sleeping in a room that smelt of beer, sweat, and cigarettes.  She was a future with her mother.  One with her father.  Her two older siblings and her new youngest sibling.  She saw a future with a brick house and a bedroom.  She was a future that was made passible by "El Otro Lado."