I remember my first day at Education and Hope. No Spanish. Lots of names and new faces. Lorena presenting me to every señora, to each administrator and to all of the classes. Every child presenting themselves by their first, middle, second middle and last names. At this point my Spanish was limited, and by limited…Read more I Will Remember… A Reflection of My Year at Education and Hope
Love
I wanna be like you
I wanna be like you Silvia. I want to live with the same amount of inhabitation as you while you sing—in the shower, in the kitchen, in the living room or well… anywhere in the house. I aspire to live with the same amount of passion in my life as you carry in every note…Read more I wanna be like you
Learning to Love without Suffering
1 week. This is the time I have to say good-bye, or more fittingly good-bye for now, to a community and city that I have fallen in love with. A mix of emotions fill my body—like water filling the lungs of a drowning person. I feel these emotions overflowing my lungs and my chest. I…Read more Learning to Love without Suffering
Hands- Las Señoras
I spent my Thanksgiving of 2015 in a New York City apartment with NYU medical students. In the morning we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving’s day parade in person—a dream of mine—especially given that watching the Thanksgiving football game always wins out in my home. I still dream of the velvety overly indulgent banana pudding we…Read more Hands- Las Señoras
Real Social Work- Lorena
My $100,000 diploma may read ‘social work’ but at Education and Hope I am not the social worker. Our social worker calls herself by many names; accountant, community member, cousin, sister, and friend. Her name is Lorena. I think of her as the lifeblood of the program. If the program were a body she would…Read more Real Social Work- Lorena
Latching On
Why do we latch on? Because it’s natural. Because it’s the first thing that we learned to do as infants in a new world. We were a part of our mothers, latching onto their breasts that fed our growing spirits. There closeness fed our need for attachment. We latched for survival. We latched for comfort.…Read more Latching On
But You’re My People- Transition and Longing
Dear My People, You may or may not know who you are. For those who are reading this and are thinking O that’s me it’s because it is. I have expressed it in words, letters, time and warmth. For those of you who don’t know who you are it’s because our passing was one that…Read more But You’re My People- Transition and Longing
