Dear Hendrix,

One day, while we were lying in bed, your dad asked, “So, if you could go anywhere in the continental United States, where would you go?”

Ha! That was easy. “New Orleans!”

“Why is that?” he asked.

“Well, my family is from there, and I grew up hearing about it all the time. I’ve been wanting to visit for years but just haven’t had the chance.”

To visit the city of New Orleans was, to me, like reaching Narnia. Or better yet, it was like Ash trying to get to the World Coronation Series to battle Leon and finally become a Pokémon master! (Dork alert!) It was a place I could only ever imagine, creating a hazy image in my head based on the many stories and references I heard while growing up with my mom and grandparents.

I was too poor to take a trip like that. I barely trave

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