Reasons for Being Here

I really should be doing my readings on Immigration law, but this was just such a perfect moment that I wanted to put it out there.

I just got off the phone from a conversation with the only person that I text regularly in spanish. She has been in my life forever, and in all honesty, she is more of a sister to me than anyone else I've ever had. She knows all of my quirks, what drives me CRAZY, she's seen me cry when I was hurt and I've seen her cry when so many of the things in her life have gone wrong.

The age difference is huge, but we fight like sisters. There is yelling in the hallways, me dice "AYE NIÑA MAL EDUCADA!" when I'm acting poorly and we always come to an agreement. A mutual standoff between two VERY strong personalities. We respect each other. As strong women who really dont put up with ridiculous behavior from any other person. These stare downs are the most intense I've ever experienced.

And while I'm away she still loves me. She'll send me short messages hoping that I'm not working too hard when I know that she works 18 hour days. When I call her she asks what we are going to cook together since she is the person who taught me everything that I know. She'll never hug me the way that she hugs my brother, our relationship is more out of mutual respect than out of hierarchy of any kind. And she is the reason that I am part of MEChA.

Because it is not about me. We are born fortune if we can say that the people around us inspire us to be everything that we can be. This woman, in all of the challenges she pushed into my life, my need to defend myself in arguments, and even when I first learned to read in my native tongue, was there. It's so impossibly hard for me to talk about it that my first answers about why I work with MEChA are about myself and my history. It's so much easier to talk about myself than it is to talk about how much I love this woman. And why is that? Why shouldnt we celebrate the people that we love so dearly that it makes us feel?

So this is for her. Confession: Everything that I have done here, was with her in the back of my mind. Because I was given gifts that I will never be able to give her. And with her in my mind, I am inspired to be all that I can be. Te amo.