February 12, 2011--My Brother

In 28 de Agosot, I have become extremely close with the Olmedo family...I have written about how Maribel, the mother, is one of the strongest women I know. But it would not be fair if I didn´t talk about Hamilton...who calls me his sister. And to be honest....my true brother here in Ecuador. He is 16 and has taken on more responsibilities than I have even known at 22. He is the caregiver to his siblings ( he is the oldest of 7) and often takes on responsibilites of mom or dad as Maribel often has to take care of his brother Jonathon who had a traumatic brain injury in an acident last year. Yet Hamilton is full of smiles and hope. He studies hard and loves school...and he genuinely loves his family. I admire how positive he stays amidst so much hardship. Him and I talk almost everday, we have serious conversations, but we mostly just fool around---I very much see my presence in his life as one where he can be himself and let go of his responsibilities for a while, and the severity behind how desperate his home life so often is. All of this leads me to a huge realization I had revolving around him today.

God knows how much I love this kid--and today I truly realized how much he knows me. I was at Manos Abiertas and completely running out of patience---I was feeling frustrated for so many different reasons, and then Hamilton walked in with his usual crowd--Brian, Cristian, Lady and Sylvanna. Everyone said hi and kept walking--but Hamilton read my face--he put his arm around my should smiled and screamed ¨Mi nañaaaaaaa!!!¨which translates to ¨My sisterrrrr!!¨ And then asked, ¨todo bein?¨ everything ok?? I just laughed at his goofiness and yelled back ¨si!! todo bien brother¨---then this 16 year old kid hugged me and whispered, now thats the Jessie I know! ¨Eso es la Jessie quien yo si conozco¨ This small but extremely powerful moment made me realize how much these kids mean to me, and how I do not know what I would do without Hamilton. He truly knew me more than I ever thought and this was a validating moment where I realized how real my relationships are here. And how much love I am experiencing throughout my days.