(re-run)

Because my son moved in, I changed bathrooms. He gets the new one at the other end of the house, and I get the hallway one with the skylight and window (the master bathroom is a cave).

I was putting on my make-up the other day with daylight coming in. There it was, a huge crack above my right eyebrow.

Where did that come from?  I hadn't noticed it in the other bathroom with less light.

My jaw therapist mentioned the furrow in my brow the last time I saw him. It was a ninety-minute appointment, and he and I were deep into conversation as he manipulated my neck, jaw, and all the attached muscles.

"Yes, I noticed that," he said.

I told him how my ear, nose and throat doctor (ENT) wanted to shoot Botox into my jaw to relax it. She says clenching is hereditary, that she does it herself, and that her two-year-old son clenches his jaw.

Botox in my jaw? How about a little bit in my forehead, too, while we're at it? To relax the big crack? Could she become an ear, nose, throat, and forehead doctor (ENTF) just for one day?

Two of my offspring also clench and now own mouthguards. I thought it had to do with living in California, but one of them doesn't. For me, I blame it on the pandemic, not dancing, not singing with my chorus, not going on group hikes.

It's time to get out there and wear myself out more, so that I won't clench my teeth all night. And maybe stay off Facebook where old white guys whom I don't know will stop arguing with me about the immigrant situation at the border. Millions coming? I don't think so.

As I explained to some of them this morning, we can't send the kids back. First of all, they're kids and may not even know their full names or their addresses. Their parents gave them up so that they could survive. Drug-fueled gang wars have taken over Guatemala, Honduras, and other Central American countries. Drugs mean big money to gangs who can sell them north, where they will eventually end up on American streets.

In Guatemela, join the gang or be killed. That's why the boys are being sent away.

Pay a fine to the gangs for "protection" or your daughter will be raped. That is why the girls are being sent away.

Imagine being a mother and giving up your children forever, sending them north so that they can survive and thrive in the greatest country on the planet.  One old white guy this morning told me to send all my money to Central America. I replied that it wouldn't stop the murder of these kids.

People say it's not our problem, but it is. As long as we buy the drugs from those countries, the gangs will continue. The threats will continue. The killings will continue.

How lucky are we that we don't live there? How lucky that we were born here, and that our citizenship is guaranteed! Have you ever once wondered what your life would be like if you were born anywhere else on the planet? It might have been okay, or it might have been a nightmare.

One old white guy said all of the immigrants will end up on welfare.  The Dreamers (DACA) chidlren are not on welfare. They are going to college to become doctors, lawyers, and teachers.  I am so tired of the welfare excuse for not letting immigrants in. Generally speaking, Hispanic people have a strong work ethic. 

Now it's unaccompanied children at the border. What choice do we have but to let them stay?  It's a matter of our humanity. Sending them back, even if we could, would mean death for these children. How can the greatest country in the world, a country comprised of immigrants, do that?