Category Archives: Reflections

Reflections on how we feel and how the mission is changing us

Sacrifice

Human Rights, Migrant Death, Reflections

A silver bracelet with purple charms and one with mom and a flower on it
MOM

Mom.  This three letter word hangs on a pin my son made me for Mother’s Day.  The word is so small but so powerful.  Most of you spent time on Sunday (Mother’s Day) reflecting on the powerful bond and love you share with your Mom.  What sets me apart from the students I am bringing with me to Brooks County is that I am a Mom.  I know that the love you share for a child is unlike any other kind of love a person can experience.  That you think you’ve loved with all your heart until you have a child and then you realize you’ve never truly loved before.  As I prepare to travel to South Texas for two weeks I have to mentally prepare to leave my son behind in Indiana.  I won’t be able to read him bedtime stories for 13 nights or get his hugs and kisses for 14 days.  But the thought that keeps me going is that I am temporarily leaving my family to reunite other families.  I will get to hug and kiss my son again, but there are hundreds of mothers whose children are buried unidentified in the Sacred Heart Burial Park who cannot say the same thing.  I cannot imagine the agony of not knowing where my child is or not knowing if he is safe or even still alive. The thought that I may never see his sweet smile or hear his voice say “I love you” would be unbearable for me.  While these mothers may not be able to hear their children’s voices or hug them one more time, at least we can help find their sons and daughters and return them home to be reunited with their families.  Their families deserve to mourn and grieve over the loved ones they have lost.  This is the type of closure that we as forensic scientists can bring to these mothers.

I know that I would do anything for my son.  I would do anything to give him a life where he is safe and healthy.  The decision to migrate alone, with your family or to send your children ahead is literally a life or death decision.  Do I remain in a place of institutionalized violence and poverty where I risk the lives of my family each day, or do I make the decision to risk my life to go to a place where they have a chance to not only live but thrive?  The US/Mexico border wall is 40 times more deadly than the entire history of the Berlin Wall.  More people have died in the desert in the southern US than Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 combined.  Those that migrate know their odds are slim. But slim odds are better than what they face at home. As a mom I would bet on a better life for my son, and I would do anything to give him that chance.  And that is why I give up a few weeks with him to reunite families across the border.

Dr. Krista Latham

A Necessary Item on my Packing List

Reflections, Snapshots

Although the trip is still a few weeks away, I’ve started to make a few lists and get things organized. The basic essentials for any travel are pretty straightforward, and so making that list isn’t a problem. We have been making a few trips to collect all of the field gear we’ll be using, and we’ve been crossing items off that list slowly and surely. For me, the list I’ve been working on the most is the list of everything else I might need other than the basic travel items and field gear. While the list is a difficult one, there is one necessity on the list that I had no difficulty including, and I smile every time I see it on my list: my cowboy boots.

Cowboy boots next to a red bag
These boots

I was born and raised in Texas, but it wasn’t until I got down to San Marcos, TX that I realized how important a good set of cowboy boots are. I lived around Dallas, TX for all of my life up until college, and cowboy boots weren’t a huge thing in the city throughout high school. Down in San Marcos I met other Texans from all over the state and learned a lot about Texas culture. I learned to two-step within the first few months, but I had to two-step in my loafers because I didn’t have any boots. A year later while exploring an antique shop in the nearby city of Gruene, I found an old set of cowboy boots that fit perfectly. With holes in the soles and worn-in heels, these boots were far from brand new, and I absolutely loved them for the character. I danced in them at Gruene Hall that night, the oldest dance hall in Texas, and wore them for a few weeks straight afterwards.

Here in Indiana, I try and pull them out every now and then. I’m far from being any kind of cowboy, but wearing those boots makes me feel like I’m back at home. Every time an old wooden floor creaks under my boots, I think of Gruene Hall and my old house in San Marcos. Every time I put my boots on, I feel like I’m about to head out to Austin for another Texas night. And so I’m bringing them with me in a few weeks so I can get a little bit of Texas dirt on them again. I won’t be using them in the field of course, but when we fly into San Antonio, I’ll be that guy holding up the security line at the airport as I struggle to get my boots off.

I am incredibly thankful to have the opportunity to assist with this human rights crisis in my home state. This work being done in Falfurrias, to me, embodies many of Texas’ most important cultural beliefs. John Steinbeck once wrote: “For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America.” I couldn’t agree more with Steinbeck after participating in the work in Falfurrias last year. Community members are graciously giving anything they can to help people they haven’t met. Law enforcement and search and rescue teams are passionately working every day to find survivors and save as many people as they can. These selfless actions from the community are extremely humbling and inspiring, and while I know that anybody from any state and any country would do the same, I am proud nonetheless to be from a place with such incredible people.

And so the most Texan item I own, my pair of cowboy boots, is coming with me. Not only am I bringing my boots as a reminder of where I’m from, but also as a homage to the rich, colorful, and passionate culture of Texas.

Ryan Strand