Abuelita An American Mom

What could she do for this young man, homesick for Veracruz?

- Rosemary Kuhn

“WHERE ARE YOU from, Juan?” I asked the question clearly, as I’d been taught in the program I’d completed for teaching English as a second language.

“Veracruz, Mexico,” Juan said promptly. “It’s beautiful there.”

Juan was my first student. We had seen each other often at the Chinese restaurant where he worked as a bus boy. Eventually it we decided he would come to my house, eat with my family and study with me. We practiced grammar and simple conversations.

“How is your family, Juan?” I asked one evening. “I talk to them on the phone,” he said. “But it’s not the same. I miss them so much.”

I understood how Juan felt. My daughter Donna had died in an accident two years earlier which had left longing in my own heart. That was one of the reasons I’d wanted to volunteer teaching ESL students. The Gospel of Matthew taught us to “give as gift what we have received,” and my daughter was truly a gift. That Scripture was a favorite of ours, and the two of us loved exchanging gifts with that in mind.

This time of year especially, with Christmas coming, I longed for ways to give in Donna’s memory.