Week Five (Karen)

On our way to Arivaca, Saturday, July 12.

Turning around, I saw him standing along the side of the road, leaning against the concrete barrier. White shirt with baseball hat turned around. His face was so familiar.

That’s when I realized that he was one of the first few men we met at Las Madres in Nogales, and there he was again on our way back from Benjamin Hill, Sonora, Mexico on Thursday. It was just so unexpected; I was caught off guard. What are the chances, I yelled. I wanted to bang on the window to get his attention, but then I was afraid he would not remember us.

There was time to discuss as we were waiting in line to cross over border, which was when Norma broke the news. The chances of seeing this man was actually quite high because we were right outside of Nogales, where Las Madres is located. The medical aid trailers and mobiles we had just passed was Mariposa, the aid station operated by No More Deaths.

While our sighting of him was no longer as magical as moments before, it was still amazing that we would see him again. And it was good just to see him. He had said that the bump beneath his eye was a tumor and that bump seemed smaller than the weeks before.

Seeing him made me wonder about everyone else we had crossed paths with.