You Always Remember.

Rachel always kept herself locked up. Her feelings all went into a blue bottle. After her Aunt's death she realized that there was no need for hiding who she was. She was black and danish and no one could tell her otherwise; she was a new person. Rachel's grandmother was not fond of her mother because she was a "ho". After being caught in bed by grandma with Anthony Miller, a very close friend, Rachel has a moment of realization. She wants to be something; mean something special to someone. 

She wants to belong to someone, but not this way. This moment she is having with Anthony Miller is a replay of her mother and her father. Something she never excepted to do or become. When she helps out at the community center, Brick, who was Jamie who was really James, talks to her. She has no idea who he is, but she has a comfort around him. They go out with their friends and as they bond more Rachel begins to let herself go, be more free willing. She becomes a different person. Her resolution is to go, faraway. Farther then her family went.

There was a new beginning for Rachel. The person that brought her that wellness was Brick. He gave her hope. Something she had lost many years ago. After keeping so much emotions locked up in an imaginary blue bottle; Rachel changes her way of thinking and being. There is more hope in Rachel then she has ever had. A good way the author showed this was through the swans. Towards the end she reconnects with the Danish part of herself and with her own self. The swans were a sign of hope and wishes for the future. The awns take steps, one two, three, four. It then lets its wing catch the air. Its hard to tell if it will fly now or continue running; its a the final step that she will never know.

There was a new face and day to Rachel's life. She had not known who Brick was. A tall, muscular, 25yr old man. Drew (Aunt Loretta's husband) had found him barely surviving. As Brick explained to Rachel what had became of him and how he had ended up there, she had sympathy for him. Little did she know he was actually 17 years old and had lived downstairs from where she had lived. He saw the flying bird fall; Rachel's brother, Robbie. Rachel wishes so much that she could just turn around and find them all eating at the table, Robbie reading his comics, Mor cooking, Pop getting ready for their day's celebration. Even though Rachel could not have all this, she learned to cope with it. Just like she had learned to let her feelings go, she also learned to get used to things that could not change. She had this growth in her that had happened, mentally and physically.