A routinely strained visit between a trans woman and her mother turns into an unexpected and delightful moment of bonding.
Mari, a Chicana trans femme goes to her elderly mother, Elena’s house on a routine visit. Elena, watches TV in a dimly lit livingroom, surrounded by dirty dishes left by Mari’s older brother Eddie. Eddie lives with Elena and does the bare minimum to care for her. When Mari expresses frustration about Eddie’s lack of helping out, Elena defends him and dismisses Mari. A commercial comes on the TV: children play with paper airplanes. Elena comments that the paper airplanes on the TV “are crap.” Amused, Mari asks her mom when she became an expert on paper airplanes. Elena tells Mari to bring her some paper and commences to show her how to make a paper airplane. The mood lightens, they chide each other playfully. When finished, Elena releases her plane. It glides perfectly across the room. Mari watches, quietly impressed. She then positions her own plane and lets it go with a graceful glide.
