I’m just home from dinner with friends when I see a text from Miguel, my contractor.
Hi do you have a minute?
Yes!
Can I call you?
Of course.
Miguel calls me occasionally for advice. He’s from Guatemala and has an “undocumented” status in the US. He immigrated nine years ago, and has been working furiously the whole time. He works mostly for a large US contractor, but more recently he's working for himself. He lives frugally, sends money back home to his family, and saves for the future when he'll return to Guatemala permanently. He is trade school and college educated, highly skilled, conscientious, and an artisan. I should know - I’ve worked with him for years now and devoted part of my second book to his story.
His wife, whom he left behind with their daughter in Guatemala, immigrated last year after a harrowing, failed first attempt. Once in the US, she spent her first year in the Washington DC area with her side of the family, rather than force a reunion with Miguel after being apart for so long. Their daughter remained behind and lives with her grandmother. Did I mention that Miguel and his wife just turned thirty?
On the phone, he tells me he and Zoe have decided to try living together again. He’s been visiting her regularly, and they feel ready. He will fly to DC and together they’ll drive across the country to California.
“Why drive?" I ask. "Why not fly?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. She is nervous about her driving, but she has some things she wants to bring with her. Female things.”
I wait for more on this. He continues. “It’s large bottles of perfume and other gifts she was given. Things that can’t go in a suitcase.”
“Can they be shipped?”
“How do we do that?”
“Well there’s UPS. They have storefronts where you can buy boxes and packing materials, and they’ll ship them for you.”
“How big are the boxes?”
“Any size. As big as you want. Just be sure to put the glass things in bubble wrap.”
“Ok. UPS. I’ll look into it.”
“Miguel, I really don’t think you two should be driving across the country in this climate. And I’m not talking about the weather. If you have a fender bender or the car breaks down in some small town in the middle of nowhere, who knows what could happen. You could both end up in custody or even be deported.”
“Yeah. I thought about that.”
They end up flying. I book their flights. The only thing Miguel asks is that Zoe gets a window seat, as it’s her first time on an airplane.
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