Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/choosing-hope-when-faced-with-unbearable-sadness-upon-seeing-traumatized-children-in-cages/5024308/
Motherless Child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long, long way from home.
Sometimes I feel like I’m almost done
A long, long way from home.
True believer
A long, long way from home.
I lost my mother at birth. I was never allowed to talk about that rupture.
I’m breaking that rule now to tell you.
Why? When I saw the photograph of that one-year-old child standing alone and undefended before an American immigration court officer, I threw the “do not talk” rule in the trash. For the sake of every traumatized baby, I will tell you my story, along with the story of motherless children. I will explain:
what our survival traits are,
what a difference hope makes,
and what adults can do to help.
In the process, I invite us all, when we face unbearable loss, to choose hope.
Luis Hernandez, our colleague who never quits, reminds us, “You always have to have hope. What else is there?”
Traits of Motherless Children
A child severed from her family and deposited in a detention facility feels her heart choked, her soul abandoned and her body traumatized. She learns to shut down immediately to survive alone. Whom else can she count on?
She ...