Memories and Masa or The Keeper
of Lost Traditions
by Avanti Felise Herczeg
6am comes too early.
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Blaring Mexican music climbs up the rickety stairs into my shoebox bedroom. The smell of chiles infuse the air and tickle my nose. Somber Christmas decorations fill the giant avocado green house. A house with an avocado green kitchen, an avocado green refrigerator and an avocado green stove.
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My momma and Grandma Garcia surround the table full of memories and masa. They bicker like mothers and daughters do—in Spanish. I understand every word between them but can’t speak back. I know my task but wait for their direction. Year after year, three generations gather around the same table, with the same silver pots, following the same recipe, in the same avocado green kitchen.
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A plastic grocery bag crinkles, struggling to hold my grandma’s long, thick, black hair. I stand over the kitchen sink soaking and cleaning corn husks. My momma carries the tamalera, full of love and sweat, from the table to the stove. One dozen. Two dozen. 20 dozen. Never-ending masa, my chili-stained hands, and an avocado green kitchen, etched in my memory.
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Thumbing through the pages of the cookbook my momma wrote and left behind, filled with recipes and family stories, I don’t remember the last time I stood at that table. But one familiar smell transports me back—back to me, my momma, and my Grandma Garcia making tamales, in that avocado green kitchen. The keeper of lost traditions.
MORE ABOUT AVANTI HERCZEG
Avanti Herczeg was proudly raised in Detroit, Michigan, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Wayne State University (WSU) in 2002. She later completed a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership in Higher Education/Student Affairs at Eastern Michigan University in 2012. For the past decade, Avanti has worked in the Art Department at WSU as an undergraduate advisor, guiding students through their academic journeys. In addition to advising, she manages the department’s social media and contributes regularly to publications such as the Advising Training Academy Notes Newsletter and the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts (CFPCA) Expressions alumni magazine. She was named co-editor of CFPCA Expressions in 2023, further expanding her role in shaping the college’s voice and outreach.
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Beyond her advising work, Avanti is engaged in curatorial and artistic projects. In 2020, she co-curated In The Air: Voices From Detroit and Beyond, a billboard series featuring local and national artists responding to the global pandemic and racial injustices. In 2023, she co-curated and contributed a written piece to the Brushes With Cancer Exhibition, which paired artists with individuals touched by cancer. That same year, she served as a juror and guest speaker for the Grosse Pointe Artists Association’s 7th Annual Promising Artists Exhibition.
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Avanti currently lives just outside of the city where she enjoys spending time with her 11-year-old nephew, sharing their enthusiasm for Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel, and Lego. She also loves exploring used bookstores, visiting museums, watching movies, taking photographs, collecting coffee mugs, and cheering on Detroit’s sports teams.