We are fortunate. We are able to spend six weeks traveling and appreciating this great country. When we are done we are able to go home to our simple house and our normal lives resume. We are safe in our home. We are safe in our community. We are safe at work and school. If we weren’t safe in any one of the places, we would leave. We would run, not walk, to where we could grow and be strong as a family, fostering the emotional growth of Zoe and Ellie. You, as our friends and family, would understand that and would wish us the best as we hoped for a better, safer future. You would be heartbroken if something almost as bad as the potential in our unsafe home happened to us. Maybe we’re locked up for seeking asylum. Maybe Zoe and Ellie and separated from us, from each other, and locked in chain linked cages. You would be heartbroken and outraged.
Today we stood on the Mexican American border. We looked across the barbed wire fence and saw land that looked exactly the same as what we had just hiked though. We reflected on the dreams for our family and thought how similar those dreams are for all families. I’ve only ever wanted my kids to be safe, mostly happy, and mostly healthy. Who wouldn’t want that for their babies and who would dare question that dream?
As we stood on the border, hot, sweaty, tired, my heart hurt so deeply for those children and parents being sperated along this same fence. I got to turn around, hike a couple miles in the desert heat to the air conditioning of my car. I got to continue dreaming my hopes for my kids. I will go to bed tonight knowing they are safe, right next to me. I will wake up in the morning, and together we will make more memories. Every parent on this planet deserves to dream and work to make those dreams come true for their children.
Day 11 of this journey was a good one. We found Coronado National Memorial and endured the vicious heat and a about 1,500 feet of elevation gain during a hike to the border. We summited our second mountain, Coronado Peak. One of the kindest rangers we’ve encountered swore the girls in as Junior Rangers for the 13th time this trip. We ate an iconic lunch at In ‘N Out. Our hotel for three consecutive nights is amazing and has a resort-like pool. The girls are happy. Zak and I are happy. We are fortunate.
