This morning
I picked up the LA Times and the Wall Street Journal to see what was happening
in the world. (Yes, we still have paper
subscriptions delivered to our home!) My
heart was full as I sipped my coffee and turned the pages. Jay and I had just spent last evening
baby-sitting with Gino, aged 3 ½, and Jessie, aged 21 months, while their
parents attended a wedding. Experiencing
their happy, animated antics is such a joy for us and we are grateful they are
in our lives. Their spontaneity and
innocence remind us the beauty of life and what is important…just being
together with them and letting them love us.
On page 1 of
the LA Times I saw this picture, of a father embracing his 6 yr. old son, who
stared vacantly over his shoulder.
As I read, I
sat up straighter and put down my coffee cup, and read … “Father and son reunite… Jefferson…a playful boy who loved racing tiny
cars across the dirt floor of his Guatemala home, stood stiff, staring vacantly
at the gray carpet, then at his father…
The boy remained stiff and expressionless. His arms, stomach and back were covered with
a rash. His right eye was bruised
red. He had a cough and a runny nose. Jefferson had been held in a detention
shelter … in New York. He had spoken to
his father 3 times in 46 days. ‘Papa, I
thought they killed you’ , he told his father. ” My stomach twisted.
Then on page
A3 of the Wall Street Journal, a photo of a migrant family with a little boy,
the same age as Gino, with black curly hair stared out at me.
I read… “Father and son were separated three
months ago…the boy was sent to an agency in Michigan… Mr. Reyes said his son isn’t the same. He doesn’t speak much. He wants to be close to his father and
worries every time he steps away.
Inside, he carries like a sadness.”
Dr. Havens, a NY psychiatrist for children is quoted in testimony. “Most
children are resilient. But there is a
subset who have a significant disorder associated with the trauma of
separation. (They) appear confused or
don’t recognize a parent upon reunification. For parents to have to go through
sort of reacclimatizing themselves to their children is just horrific.”
I closed the
paper and just sat there. Thoughts raced
through my mind. What have we come
to? No amount of legal discourse, no amount
of citing legalities, nothing in my mind can justify adults taking such steps
to enforce whatever laws and in the process damage innocent children who are
victims of the decisions of others. We
are better than that.
Memories of
the little faces that turned to me in such open, naked trust last night fill my
mind. It is such a privilege to be
entrusted with my grandchildren. My hope
is that the love, security and guidance I am allowed to share with them will
contribute to their developing into confident, secure and fully alive little
individuals. Such an honor and such a
responsibility.
I feel
ashamed as I read the news. I am ashamed.
Those who
would lead our judicial systems, enforce our laws, often do so with a sense of
religious righteousness. Yet, I recall
the Bible verse: Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe
in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung
around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.
Where
can I get my hands on some millstones!
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