"I'm writing you to catch you up on places I've been, You held this letter, probably got excited, but there's nothing else inside it, didn't have a camera by my side this time, hoping I would see the world through both my eyes, maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm in the mood to lose my way with words..." -John Mayer
As I write this, I am sitting on a plane headed for La Guardia to visit CUNY School of Law & I find myself again faced with the question, “What next?” As seems to be the case during the spring, the past few weeks have been filled with new life, new decisions and change. Looking back, I can’t remember a spring in the past 7 or so years where I haven’t felt growing pains. This year is absolutely no different.
Life around La Casa has been full of change lately as both our unit & the MVS unit that we are so close to have welcomed new additions. Kate & I have enjoyed our new roommate Ana & the new perspective that she brings to our house. Ana is a recent seminary graduate from Piedras Negras, just across the Rio Bravo about 2 hours outside of San Antonio.
About a month ago, Hugo, Kate, Ana & I spent a weekend in Piedras Negras on our spring retreat. I enjoyed being back in Mexico, even if it was only for a weekend & also enjoyed witnessing life in a border town where change, growth, & movement are synonymous with every day life. So many of my clients come through Piedras Negras that it allowed me a little more insight into the world of immigration. As I stood on the Mexican banks of the Rio Bravo entertaining the “what if…” ideas of jumping & seeing what Border Patrol would think of me, I couldn’t help but notice the t-shirts, shoes, & other personal items that littered the ground, symbols of a life hurriedly left behind in the search for something better. What do you pull of as you are running towards a new life & what do you desperately try to cling to through the murky waters?
My family is also changing & growing this spring as my cousin, and probably one of my very first friends, gave birth to her first daughter in February. She’s absolutely beautiful & I can’t wait to meet her. Another happy sign of change within my family is that my brother proposed to his girlfriend, also a good friend of mine, & the whole family is excited about welcoming another new family member!
As for me, within the next week, I will make a decision about where I will spend at least the next 3 years of my life. I couldn’t be more excited about being able to choose between 4 law schools, but I have also begun to realize that before I know it, it will be August again & time for a change. I am still enjoying my work & life in San Antonio & I know it will be hard to leave, if & when I do. I am also learning more & more every day that complete success is often hard in immigration law, that good things don’t happen over night & that I must appreciate the small successes. I can’t get someone a green card, a work permit, or even a mild sense of security in one month, much less in one work day. Conversations, smiles, deadlines met, “Dios te bendiga”, “Eres mi ángel de la guarda”, & “Gracias” are all little successes that make days a little easier.
So just like little successes, I will take the changes of another spring in little steps...
en paz,
jenna
