Connections

When most Hispanic people approach me, they look at me for a few seconds, and then in accented English, quietly ask, "You speak Spanish?".

Today the Kid and I went to the supermarket, and the cashier was helping the customer in front of me. She turned to look at me, and she looked just like my Aunt Martha, my biological mother's sister, who currently lives in New Mexico. The cashier was speaking English to the customer, but without pausing, said to me, warmly, "Hola. Cómo está?", as if we had met before. With a rush, I immediately felt a pang for my Mexican family. She continued in Spanish as she rang up my things. "Plastic bags ok? Did you find everything you needed?" "Sí gracias, sí gracias", I answered.

Martha is 8 years older than me, and feels like a sister. We can lay on her bed together and talk about everything, and I just have so much love for her.

I called Martha from the parking lot and told her about the cashier and she laughed. "Now you can go see me", she said. Then she asked how my parents were, and told me to tell them she had a dream about them yesterday.

"What did you dream?" I asked.

"Oh, I don't know", she said. I was just thinking about you all day, and when I slept, they were in my dream. Tell them I said hi and I love them. They did such a good job with you".

The cashier reminded me of Martha with her immediate warmth and the comfort of her Spanish words. Now Martha was doing it again, just unabashedly sending out love to the parents that raised me, that she had met in person once, but had such a strong connection with. They love her too.

Last year, Martha's daughter Karla came to visit with her cousin Alejandra, and my parents fell in love with both of them as well. I think they felt a little parental towards Karla.

The connections we can form in life just amaze me.