“Mommy’s bed.” James lazily grabbed my hand and pulled me towards my bed. I crawled in and began to sing, “Goodnight, sweetheart, it’s time to go. Goodnight, sweetheart, it’s time to go. I hate to leave you, but I really must say, goodnight, sweetheart goodnight.” He fell asleep moments later… in my arms. I love to watch him sleep, hold his bitty baby hands, and hear him breathe in and out. I love carrying him to his own bed and tucking him in tightly. I love it.
I’m so blessed.
I’m so incredibly blessed.
Thank you.
Thank you, God.
There will be a child tonight that will go without a goodnight kiss. There will be a child tonight that will cry themselves to sleep because they miss their mom and dad. Their will be a child tonight that will not be read to. Their will be a child tonight that will wonder how all of this happened. There will be a child tonight that will not get tucked in. Their will be a child tonight that will miss the warmth of their mom’s arms, the scent of their dad’s aftershave, and the irreplaceable smell of home sweet home.
I can’t stop thinking about all of the children that have recently been separated from their parents. I can’t stop wondering how they are. They’ve been uprooted and placed in a detention center, in AZ., far from the familiarity of home, without the comfort of their mom and dad’s soothing voice to put them back to bed, without the warmth of their parents embrace before they start their day, without their careful guidance, their tender love and care, their unconditional love, their infinite empathy, & their essence. I wonder about them. I wonder if they are suffering from separation anxiety from the suddenness and unexplainable uprooting they’ve recently experienced. I wonder about the trauma they must be experiencing, the feeling of total abandonment, the uneasy feeling of being alone in an unfamiliar place, with the voices of strangers. I think of them and I weep for them.
I don’t believe in borders. I don’t believe in building walls. I believe in building bridges. I believe in making our tables longer. I believe in ‘the more the merrier.’ I believe in inviting all or none. I believe in loving all humanity. I believe that all children are our children. I believe in humanity. I believe in one. One universe. One. I believe in one.
& I’ve had lots of discussions, over and over again with multiple groups of people, about how they should really earn their keep, pay their share of taxes, get citizenship the right way, how we’re losing money because of them, us paying their way just isn’t fair and isn’t right, and how much they’re hurting our economy. I’ve had the talks many times about how they are criminals, how they don’t belong here and so on and so forth, but I still stand strong in my belief system: I don’t believe in keeping people out. I don’t. & to do so is wrong. It is wrong. I stand by my truth. It’s in my blood. Love thy neighbor rings true for me.
I can’t wrap my mind around, and will never ever understand, people choosing to put their hands on our beloved and innocent children & ripping them away from their parents’ arms. I can’t even fathom what those children must be going through. It’s no mystery that the best place for a child is with their parents, as long as they are fit. In every case, when children are taken away from their parents for whatever reason, there is a protocol put into place that does everything and anything they can to reunite them with their biological parents again. They do all they can do to make that happen because children belong with their parents. It is fact that parents are the best place for children period, without question.
The government is not doing what is best for our kids. They are ours, not someone else’s. They are all ours. We are all God’s children. They are not thinking with their hearts, but rather their heads and it is disgusting. When we take away our children’s safety net, they become lost, sad, bitter, feel isolated, shame washes over them, guilt ensues, and trauma is a way of life for them. Those children will be scarred for life. The damage is done. We failed them.
I’m sad to admit that I am an Arizonan, as these detention centers are located in AZ. When I think of a detention center, I think of children being placed there because they’ve made poor choices or done something really wrong. Newsflash: these kids didn’t break the law! They are innocent. They are the ones that will suffer the most. Some are as young as 18 months old. We’re talking babies. Babies need their parents to thrive, to live, to breath, to survive, and to make it in the real world. What has our world come to? What is wrong with us? What happened to ‘it takes a village,’ ‘your children are my children,’ ‘when the team works, the dream works,’ ‘there is no ‘I’ in team?’ It’s as if we’ve forgotten. What happened to the ‘We?’
Let’s talk about why these people are fleeing, shall we? Are they coming to America to wreak havoc? No. Are they crossing borders to make trouble? They come here because they are desperately fleeing the conditions within their own country. They are crossing the border to seek work, to provide better lives for their children, to send money back to their countries, & to provide more for their communities. They are escaping to find better education for their kin, for themselves, and for their families. They are desperately seeking safety.
We supposedly live in the land of the free and home of the brave. I struggle writing that because my country isn’t really upholding the words of the national anthem very well, as of late. This doesn’t feel like the land of the free or the home of the brave.
It seems unconstitutional and criminal to rip a child away from their parents, to uproot them from all they know, only to be placed, unbeknownst to them, in complete foreign territory, away from all they know, without explanation and amongst complete strangers.
How is this not against the law? Have we lost of freaking minds? This is so incredibly wrong. It’s beyond not ok. It’s mind-blowing and mind-boggling that this is acceptable behavior in any way, shape, or form. I’m appalled. I can barely sleep.
So, let me get this straight: someone crossed the border illegally, they walked across a country line that was drawn in the earth and that is a crime? We do whatever it takes to be the best we can be for our children. We’re told to strive for excellence, follow the American dream, to set goals and reach them, to get an education, to get a good job, and more. So, these people who are doing just that… are being punished?! They’re seeking a better life, fighting for justice, searching for democracy, desperately trying to find work, in need of better medical care, craving a better education… and yet, that is all a crime? So that is why we’re getting our panties in a bunch? These are ‘so called’ criminals? Who are we to be so high and mighty that we get to decide who gets to be a part of our country? Who says?
How many of these illegal immigrants are committing violent crimes? Let’s get the stats… because I have a feeling the stats are quite low.
These children are going to grow up to be ticking time bombs just waiting to go off. They are going to sit in those detention centers with their minds turned and twisted upside down wondering what the hell just happened. They’re going to think their parents abandoned them, become enraged, vicious, angry, pissed off, build resentment, and be so incredibly traumatized. It’s completely unfair.
There comes a time to speak our minds, to stand up, to speak up against that in which is unjust, & to say what matters. I can barely sleep when I think of all of these children going to bed, alone, without a goodnight kiss from mom or dad, without a cuddle, and without extra snuggles from their blood relatives.
I can’t imagine life without Hope and James. I can’t imagine what these parents must be going through, how they long to be reunited with their beloved babies, the heartache they must be enduring.
For now, I pray they are reunited with their children as soon as possible. For now, I pray that we all take the time to write our government expressing our outrage. For now, I pray that each child knows that they are loved so much. For now, I pray for comfort. I pray for love. I pray for reunification. I pray for our government to have a heart, to think with their hearts, not their heads. I pray that each of those children know they are loved and that they know they are (& never were) bad, but rather they are the very best thing in our whole entire universe; they are the future. I pray their futures are bright and filled with safety, love, care, empathy, and compassion. I pray. I pray. I pray hard. I ask for you to do the same.
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Yesterday We Gave Our Babies Love. Today We Give Our Lawmakers Hell.
just another mama next door 
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