March 10, 2019: My view from the other side of the “wall”:
(This story originally appeared in Yellow Scene Magazine)
As President Trump prepares to declare a national emergency to build a border wall, I’m sitting here on the other side, holding my breath, horrified by what is happening in my home country and its effect on the American psyche and Mexican-American relations. This situation is one of many since Trump took office that he’s used to stoke fear among Americans about Mexico and Mexicans. Between Trump’s hateful words and actions, and the media’s underrepresentation of all that is good about Mexico, many Americans have serious misperceptions about their southern neighbor.

Dec. 23, 2018: La hija única (the only daughter)
(This story originally appeared in Scary Mommy)
Living in rural Mexico, I’m a bit of an anomaly as the mother of an only child. Women see me and Maya together and ask – do you have other children? When I say no, they ask why. No matter what reason I give them for not having another child – like my age (I’m 46 and recently went through “the change”), my struggles with infertility, and that I like having just one child – they still insist I should have another one. It just doesn’t seem to compute in their minds why I would stop trying to have more, no matter what might stand in my way. God works in mysterious ways, and may bless my uterus again one day.