Analysis, Commentary, Opinion
07.07.2018
Home
I
am thinking of home today. Of what it means to have one, especially for those
who do not.
I
was with my good friend yesterday, who, at the age of fifty-three closed on his
first home, in the Seward neighborhood, which he loves, on a block that he loves,
exactly where he wanted to live after having had art studio close to it a
couple of years ago.
We
live in a safe city with good schools and markets, great restaurants and plenty
of things to do.
He
is close to the river, a couple of blocks from the mighty Mississippi, where it
divides Minneapolis from Saint Paul.
He
has a home now, a place to keep his family safe.
I
was on the market just a year ago, looking to sell one place and buy another
with my lady, to acquire a safe place that would be ours, together, with all of
the rights that belong to a homeowner.
The
prospect of not having that place was unsettling, even in a city as safe as Minneapolis
is.
I
am thinking of all the people locked up in detention centers and jails, immigrants,
people like my great-grandparents, who gathered up their families and headed for
America, to poverty and violence, corrupt governments and gangs, in the hope
that they could raise their families in a safe place and call it home.
They
may not share our language, but they do share our dreams. They have the same
desire to see their children flourish as all people do, to receive an
education, to have a career, to raise children of their own.
They
want to live in a society that is governed by laws, not the capriciousness of “strong-men”
and juntas. They are courageous, determined and bold.
Perhaps
they came to the wrong place, or to this place at the wrong time, America,
daughter of Liberty, has lost her mind.
I
am thinking of much land we have in this great country of ours, it is mostly empty,
and wide open spaces. I am thinking of how, without immigration our population
is in decline.
I
am thinking of how much we need these strong people to come and live here with
us, to blend their strength with ours, build up our neighborhoods, open
businesses and stores.
We
need more of them, more families to move here and call this place home.
