Abuela, Don't Forget Me

Abilene, Texas, is an important geographical location in the text and the primary setting. Abilene is a mid-size metropolitan area of over 100,000 residents outside of the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It is home to Abilene Christian University, which plays a key role in the text as Ogle applies and is accepted into the Junior Scholars program. As of 2020, 26.9% of the population identified as Hispanic (U.S. Census Bureau, “Quick Facts: Abilene, Texas.”), a detail that informed Ogle’s and his family’s life there.

Abilene is where Ogle was born, and he returns to it throughout his childhood and adolescence. Though Ogle lives primarily with his Mom and stepdad, Abuela’s house in Abilene is Ogle’s true home. Abilene is the only stable place he has known throughout his life and often acts as his base while his mother and Sam move the family upwards of five times. The constant moves in Ogle’s childhood result in feelings of instability, an inability to connect with his peers, and difficulties with forming lasting connections with those around him. Abilene, however, is a constant in his life, and Ogle always feels best when he is there visiting Abuela.

It is notable that Ogle ends the text once more in Abilene: “Turning onto Abuela’s street, nothing / has changed. / 1214 South Jackson drive sits as it has always sat, as if waiting for my return” (192). Ogle takes care to point out that while he has been through a lot in his short time away from Abilene, Abilene’s street is unchanged—a representation of Abuela’s stable force in his life, his safe place to always return to.