Maribel....she has slowly becoe someone whom I love so much. She is one of the strongest women I know. 7 kids..ne who is special needs and another who is rehabilitating from a serious accident...a husband who is seemingly absent... no money...the list can go on. Yet her faith brings her great hope and peace. Life throws her challenges, but she wears a smile and fights for her kids. I truly admire her. She is one of the most hospitable people I have encuntered...and I don´t simply mean that she invites me into her house, which I LOVE...she invites me into her life--with an open heart and open hands. She literally shares everything with me, and while it often breaks y heart, her openess brings me life and warmth. In all of the darkness that sometimes is her life, she brings me so much light. She doesnt question while I am here. She welcomes it. She knew little about me, but has had me in her home near everyday since I have been here. Her kids mean the world to me--and even though her son who is also in y class at the shelter is not speakin to me--I feel an overpowering sense of genuine love for them..and desire for them to have a better life.
Although Maribel has no real power over her current lifestyle, her willingness to make her kids happy is mind blowing. She has been fighting for months now to get her son Jonathon, who was more or less declared brain dead,..up, moving and talking. She has spent so much money, time ( someties at the expense of the others), emotions...and he is now physically responding. He can walk with help, sit up on his own, shake his head for yes or no...give thumbs up or thumbs down--the change I have seen in him has been truly amazing, and she deserves all the credit. Her strength and hope got hi here and I truly do not doubt that he will cotinue to recover. The way she talks about her kids lets me know tha they are what she is living for. She is so real with them and puts so much responsibility on the but it is all out of love and I th ink they realize that.
I did not realize how much I loved Maribel until re cently when she invited me to go with her to her church. ( She´s evangelical) Yes, it was uncofortable, but it made me realize how open she was to her own vulnerability...and hw she shared in that with me. Through her invitations--inviation to get t know her kids--invitation to come sit on her floor or eat a meal--invitations to simply talk. These invitations are the definition of hospitality. The Cortez family is my family here. All I want is a life full of happiness for them. I hope God answers their prayers.
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