In his mother's dreams.

Edel's recent post on the struggles of those who cross the southwestern border reminded me of a documentary I saw a couple of months back on my local PBS station.

I was working on a job, and watching TV at the same time. I know, I am not cool, I watch TV sometimes to have noise in the background while i work... Maybe it helps me from being lonely late at night...I can only listen to music for so long...

This documentary comes on, and it is about a man who would cross the border into California to work the fields in the central valley, then bring his earnings back to help not only his family, but his town. He had two little boys, and was 32 years old, like me.

One year his crops in Mexico were ruined, and these crops were his family's only way in making it financially for the year. So he decided to cross the border, this time with a couple of people he didn't know too well, and ended up dying in the desert. He didn't have adequate water.

This man's mother places a glass of water outside her door each night because she has dreams where he comes to her asking for a glass of water.

I have two children about the same age as this man's. It breaks my heart to think that all this man wanted to do was provide for his family. Do I have that kind of courage? I hope so. I don't know the answers to this important issue, but I now identify better with those who are crossing the border and just trying to make ends meet for their families.