Chapter 31

Summary

• Yara asks her children, Mira and Jude, how they want to spend the first day of their twelve-day Christmas break.
• Jude and Mira suggest activities like going to a movie, bowling, shopping, and visiting the library.
• After some debate, the children decide they want to go ice-skating, and Yara agrees.
• The family enjoys the festive activities of their small town, including lunch at the local bakery and buying ingredients for holiday snacks.
• Over the vacation, Yara and her daughters participate in various holiday activities, watch festive lights, fireworks, and a tree-lighting ceremony.
• The chapter switches focus as Yara visits her friend Silas, who invites her over to taste a new recipe he's baking.
• Yara approves of Silas's sweet potato and onion tart, and she shares the baklava she made for him and Josephine.
• Yara spends her days after the winter break sketching, painting, reading, and enjoying solitude while the kids are at school.
• She confides in Silas about her journaling, prompted by advice to write a letter, reflecting on difficult past memories.
• Silas shares his own story of coming out to his family, and they have a deep conversation about fear and self-understanding.
• After returning home, Yara is inspired to confront her painful memories and starts to write a letter to her mother.