All during this time Viviana kept herself very distant from Lara and I. Viviana argued that the distance would keep our daughter protected from all she (Viviana) was suffering. She chose to isolate herself by talking uncontrollably about petty things, in order to fill all possible moments of silence, and thus prevent us from talking about the thoughts that really roamed our minds.

No matter how much Viviana tried to protect Lara from the possibility of experiencing painful moments, this turned out to be impossible. Lara knew when her mother was going through physical and spiritual pain.