Travelers

This isn't my story, but it was the first one that had to be told. I had been traveling for weeks. Complaining about delays, scary houses, or silly stupid things that I don't even remember right now. I had my phone with internet and was posting my movements. My family had given me some nuts and energetic bars, and I'd been lucky enough to eat in some really nice places. Still, I complained.

I was waiting for my bus, sitting at San Antonio's Greyhound Station in Texas when I saw them. A group of kids, maybe 7 or 10. I could hear them speaking Spanish, with simple clothing and a huge smile on their faces. On a time when immigration was really a thing, I knew. Those kids had been caught at the border... I sat close enough to listen to their conversation. The youngest one, a 2-year-old toddler, came even closer and he played distracted with a little toy. I smiled at him and to the young girl that came to play with him. She couldn't be older than 16 maybe 17 years old.

Two ladies were organizing everything. I could hear their American accent, and I could see the badges hanging from their neck that read, "volunteer." A numerous group came in, two families I would say. Lots of adults. In my mind I had the story set up, the kids were in one place the parents in a different one. I was witnessing how they got together after weeks separated.

My bus was about to depart, I saw some of them moving towards the same bus. The two kids that I had seen before got in, my perfect movie crashed, and my eyes opened. I felt embarrassed. They weren't two kids, not as I saw them. The young 18 years old girl, was the mum of the beautiful toddler. I smiled at her, and we started talking.

She was Bolivian and had been traveling for months with her son. Suffering all kind of situations, she had to wait at the border waiting for the right moment to cross. After all those months she phoned her mum. I cried as she told me how she couldn't tell her. How she wasn't brave enough to tell her own mother all that had happened, all the things she had to deal with to protect her son and herself...She phoned her mum to tell her that it was the time to cross, and I heard in that confession how she meant it to be a goodbye. I felt the prayer of her mother protecting her all the way. Now we were there, facing a long trip on a cold bus. They smiled all the way. Why? I couldn't stop asking myself, why a young girl does all that with a little boy, how can she risk her own life? So I asked, cause the news weren't clear enough. Cause immigrants were seen as something to be stopped, but nobody asked why? Not the reason for immigration, as we all know that money is the key in this world. I mean the ultimate WHY? What is in those minds to take the leap. She had a dream, she wanted to be a doctor. Since she was a little girl that was all she wanted. She couldn't study and had to work. She had her own business in her small town, and even so, her dream was to be a doctor. When she turned 18, she knew it was the time. A year more and it would be too late for her to start studying. Had many countries in mind but in the end, she found the way to go to the United States and didn't think twice. I cried so much for that girl. That day I prayed for her, all my wishes in my heart were for her.

When we arrived in New Orleans I gave her my phone to make a phone call, someone was picking her up. I waited with her till they did, I hugged her and gave her my contact number and email. A pregnant woman that came with me asked for a call, and I gave her my phone to call whoever she needed. While we waited for someone to pick her up, I asked her and couldn't believe the answer. She was passed the 9 months, and she had been praying the whole way for the baby to stay inside a day more. She was traveling with two kids more.

After they left, I took a moment to breathe. I was alone, traveling solo. People thought I was brave. No, they were brave. I did it for fun, but for them, it was a matter of life. Their future depended on that trip.

I honor them today and embrace the lesson they thought me. They changed my life forever. No, I don't remember their names but their stories will stay with me, and it will be told, so nobody forgets that we are talking of individuals, human beings, hearts moving in this world with so much love that they don't mind to risk their own lives to ensure a better future for their families.