A touching story. Don't know where to begin.

[Xipe Totec]

My spouse is a substitute teacher in South Texas. We live in the Rio Grande Valley, one of the poorest if not the poorest area of the United States. The demographics are, for all intents and purposes, 100% Mexican-American. Today, she substituted as an assistant at an elementary school that cares for children with special needs.

I want you to let that sink in. One of the poorest areas of the country, dealing with children with special needs from families of very limited resources.

On her way out the door today, speaking with the teacher in charge of the class, she found out she was in a hurry to get home because she had guests waiting.

- Oh, you have family visiting?
- Well, no. Actually, these are three people I've been sheltering for the last few days. They're a brother and sister in their 20's, and the girl has a young boy of about three. I found them sleeping under a bridge and decided to take them in and help them out. They'll be leaving in another day or so, but right now I have to get home to feed them.

The people staying with her came down from up-north, around Pennsylvania. How they got here, why they came here, what their plans are my wife does not know and I do know even less.

But here is the kicker; the family is black.

This Hispanic teacher, with a child of her own, living in one of the poorest areas of the country, didn't give a second thought to taking in a back family off the street, sheltering them in her home, and feeding them for days to help them reach their destination safely, wherever that may be.

I just can't describe how touching this is for me.

What would you have done in those circumstances?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. "What would you have done in those circumstances?"

Asked how I could help.

[Xipe Totec]

4. Have you Ever Done an Outrageous Act of Kindness?

Read post #8, and the date.


https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x3444530

[The Wielding Truth]

2. It's what we all should do. If I were living under a bridge I would hope someone would help me.

She is an amazing person.

[elfin]

3. Teachers! When will they ever learn not to be helpful to the least among us?

Despite needing more for their own families? Never.

[panader0]

5. I've aided many "illegals" here over the years.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=10079306

[Xipe Totec]

6. Awesome! You're a kind human being. nt

[mgardener]

7. I do not know if I would have had them stay in my house

But I would find them services ASAP

[Mr.Bill]

8. My wife is a retired OB Nurse.

Several times over the decades I have known her some of her colleagues have adopted a baby they helped deliver who was being put up for adoption, or was removed from the parents by Child Protective Services. Talk about bringing your work home with you. They gave a child who had no chance of a good life with their birth parent or parents and gave them a future.

[StevieM]

9. You don't know that the children had "no chance" of a good life with their birth parent.

Adoption doesn't necessarily mean a better life--it means a different life.

[Mr.Bill]

10. When both parents are drug addicts or in jail

the kid's chances for a good life are slim. There have to be very strong reasons for Child Protective Services to take a child away from their parents.

[Ilsa]

11. My experience with Hispanic families has always been

"Mi casa es su casa."
When I worked in home health in south Texas (not as far south as the Rio Grande Valley), the first couple of early morning visits usually meant they wanted to feed me breakfast. They always wanted to make me feel at home. And the food was delicious! I love a Mexican breakfast.

[Xipe Totec]

12. I have a friend.

And I know how this is going to sound, but here it is:

He is a New York Jew.

We have been friends for almost two decades. We worked together at a high tech company in Boston, and our friendship has continued for years after that, and to this day.

We have been at his house many times for dinner, and he was at our place in Boston many times as well.

But until he came to visit our family in Saltillo, and stayed with the family over Christmas, and was enveloped in Mexican hospitality, did he finally say: Now I get it; I understand what Mexican hospitality is; what it means to say, mi casa es su casa.

He was overwhelmed by the reception he and his wife received by this Catholic family, deep in the heart of Mexico proper. He was overwhelmed by the generosity, by the abundance, by the selflessness of what a Mexican family is like.