sarina izar | d11 | cbd1

When your brother died, you secretly cut the fabric off of one of his shirts and stashed it away in your drawer. Gabe thought he was lucky. You didn't know enough to agree with him, and you also didn't know enough to say the opposite. And now he's gone, like so many Izars before him, so you keep part of his shirt until you know what to do with it. Then it hits you when you find an old quilt stored away in the house, and you snip off part of your own skirt and stitch it to the one piece of your brother that you have left. This was the beginning of your quilt.

You've always been the sentimental type. You liked to know what things meant to people and discover what they meant to you. Your first name meant peace - whether they called you Sarina or simply Sari for short, it was still said in such a way that made you feel at ease, reminded you that you were loved. Your middle name, Shahar, meant moonlight. You didn't need to know the official meaning of the name "Izar" to recognize what it meant to other people; bravery, and at times devastation. You wanted to remember it all. Sewing was something you learned out of practicality but quickly became one of the things you lived for, stitching together memories so you could hold on to them for as long as you lived.

At first, life got in the way when it came to continuing your quilt, but you were determined to finish what you started, as you always were. No matter if the Izars were in the district records or the history books - which you, admittedly, wanted to be part of as well - but you wanted to create something that generations of abuelos could pass on to their nietos. You wanted to have a tangible impact on your family and on Eleven. You had work to do, and it would be immortalized in this quilt. You would make certain of it.