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WALK A WHILE IN OUR ARIZONA SHOES
- Dorothea M. Escobedo
Slip into any of my Arizona shoes. I have many pairs and sizes. If one does not fit try another pair. You will find a pair you can walk that mile in another man's shoes, or woman's, or child's.
In 1965 we moved to Arizona, a place we fell in love with.
We purchased 23 acres of land four miles from the Mexico border in 1970, built a house and other buildings.
Our children ran all over those acres playing, hiking, and picnicking. We felt they were safe.
We all; men, women and children had our special places where we would go to pray. We had no worry about being safe.
That is, except for rattle snakes, scorpions and red ants.
Our children walked from the house to the highway to catch the school bus, about a half mile. We did not worry about them.
They walked through trees and shrubs to get to the highway. They got off the bus at the end of the school day and walked to the house.
We felt they were safe. Their shoes were very small. You might have to put those shoes on your little children.
Our youngest son set camp down in the river bed, built a fire and cooked his meal. He loved the outdoors.
The only thing we had to worry about was when the monsoon rains came we needed to keep him out of the river bed because of the four foot waves of water rushing down the wash.
Well also, after he had talked his sister into jumping with him and an umbrella off a 30 foot cliff into the sandy river bed, we knew we needed to be sure they were not up to that.
Or our grandson riding down the big hill on a dirt road on his tricycle. These were every day things. We felt and they felt safe.
Our lovely teen age daughters walked those same twenty three hilly acres, or
sat out on the steps at night. There was no fear in doing this. It was our land,
our yard. It wasn't even fenced. We could all sit on the sun deck at night and
enjoy the stars and the lights of the city.
We could drive day or night into Mexico to shop or visit friends. Our Mexican
friends could walk their streets at night without fear. Their houses were safe
except for an occasional thief.
In those days our dogs barked at deer and havelina. Now they bark at the illegal's.
In the beginning we would sometimes see an illegal walking down the highway or even building a little fire and cooking something to eat at night.
But they passed on never bothering anything. They were looking for work to feed their family.
That was after the green cards were stopped that allowed them to work on the farms here in America.
That was all then. This is now. It is different. It is dangerous for us, for police and border patrol.
Our friends in Mexico tell about having to lay on the floor as bullets fly over them from neighboring houses.
They have friends who have died in the drug war crossfire.
Some mornings when the dogs barked, we would look out our window to see the border patrol with twenty or thirty illegal rounded up, sitting on the ground in our front yard.
Other times we would see groups running through the trees with packs on their back.
Or look down into the wash and see them sleeping, looking more dead than alive.
Now the telltale water jugs and other things left behind everywhere is a sign of their travel through our land.
More often now we hear gunshots on our property, even machine guns.
The other day my husband called me outside to hear the gunshots over the hills, definitely a gun fight coming from two or more guns, and machine guns.
We pay attention now when our dogs bark to alert us trouble may be near.
It is different now. We can see the unfinished steel fence, the dirt road for patrol along the border, and towers with surveillance cameras, each time we drive to town.
We can no longer enjoy the land or the yard or sun deck we own. Or sit in the evening with windows wide open to enjoy the night breeze.
We have to remember to lock the doors even in the daytime when our men leave to go to work or even to the store.
We no longer go shopping in Mexico, something we used to frequently enjoy. Our special places of prayer remain empty while we pray inside.
We take our children to school in the car, and pick them up.
We love the Mexican people. We see their problems and their fears. We know their need, wish the "green card" system was in effect again in America.
We get angry at the politics that keep this from happening and our border secure.
In days past we have worked to rehabilitate drug addicts. We have seen lives change.
But today the "drug lords" bring disaster to our borders; drugs to enslave our young, and terrorists to destroy our cities and our way of life in America.
We believe our laws are made for peace. Our laws make it possible for foreigners to come and be a part of us in peace. We welcome that.
Yes, we wear many shoes here in Arizona. Try them on. Walk some days in our shoes and you will understand why Arizona shoes pinch and are had to wear.
Why we cry for understanding, for a safer life, where we can once again enjoy the freedom of our land.
Where our children can play, without the noise of gun shots. And our dogs bark at the deer eating our rose buds over the fence.
Slip into our Arizona shoes and walk a while.
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