Viewing things from the other side

I am just trying to imagine it all. I am trying to imagine having four children, and then leaving them for five years in the care of my sister and brother in law in hopes of creating a better life for them. And then paying a stranger to take them on a 2,000 mile journey to rejoin with me. I have worked one, maybe two jobs with long hours at various fast food establishments, saving money so that they can come and live with me again.

And I am trying to imagine being a 10-year-old girl who speaks Spanish and Otomí, both of which will be of little help in the United States. I have not seen my mom or dad for five years. I am leaving my aunt and uncle who have cared for me during this time, and all of the other people that I love. And I may never see any of them, or the home that I have known again.

I cannot think of much else tonight, after seeing Liliana (10), Efrayn (12), and Martín (15) waving goodbye as they rode off on a bus to the border to meet a coyote who will presumably get them safely across*. Though we sit on the eve of something spectacular in the United States, I am disheartened by this experience in México. I wish there was more that I could do so that families never have to make these choices in the first place.

* At the last minute, their sister Silvia (14) decided to stay in Guadalajara.