Enrique's
Journey is a book about a Honduran boy who wishes to flee Honduras to live with
his mom in the United States. Something that stood out to me in the beginning
was the promises his mom made being broken. Enrique's mom said she was going to
stay in the United States for a year, but ended up never coming home. And
although she thought that moving away from her children and giving them more
opportunities rather than being present in their life would be better, but it
was not. Enrique counted on him mom coming home for him, and because she
didn’t he rebelled by sniffing glue and abusing drugs. If Enrique’s mom had
stuck to her word about coming home in one year than Enrique most likely would
not have rebelled.
This stuck out to me because I know people who can relate to how Enrique
felt when his mom abandoned him. For the second year in a row now I have gone
to an all-girls orphanage in Honduras. Like Enrique, these girls were ditched by their mom. These girls relate to Enrique mostly because they know what
it is like to want their mom to come back. A video that I recently watched of
one some of the girls said that “all you really want is a mother’s love.” This
relates to Enrique because he much rather his mom be in Honduras rather than
having money. Do you think it is right to leave your children, even if it's for good reasoning?
In answer to your question, I think it depends on the situation. If you know that you will have to leave your child for an unknown period of time or for a very long period of time, then no. Even though you think it might be for the best reason, that child will forever think that they were abandoned by their mother and they will try everything in their power to receive the love that they lost by all costs. However, if you know that you will leave for a short period of time and that you will be back in a short period of time (several months or a year), make sure that the child understands the reasons why their mom is leaving. That allows for some closure for both the mother and child because both will understand how one another feels about the whole situation.
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