Everyday Heroes
Everyday heroes can be total strangers. Our neighbors, peers, coworkers, family members and friends. People just like you and me doing amazing things. No bragging or looking for accolades. They just keep going through what their life's journey brings.
I had the privilege on Monday of meeting my new everyday hero, Yordana. She is a beautiful, cheerful, soft spoken widow from Ethopia. She is mother to a son and a daughter, an Uber driver extraordinaire.
Yordana lived an affluent life in Ethopia. She and her husband, a general in the military, owned a construction business and a poultry farm. Eight years ago the police came to her house and arrested her husband. She never saw him again. They continued coming back to the house for days turning everything upside down looking for something. Her bank accounts were frozen and her businesses taken away. She feared eventually she and her children would be killed.
She spared me the details of the unimaginable things she saw done to women and children during this time. She still has nightmares. Saving her children was her priority. She managed to get some money together and drive 22 hours to Kenya. From there she contacted a cousin who lived in Seattle and he helped them make the transition. Her gratitude and joy about living in the United States is palpable. Yordana reminded me of Fallou from Senegal that Well Street had the opportunity to meet.
Her current goals are improving her English at night school and going to nursing school next year. Both children are working and in college. An attorney is helping her family apply for US citizenship. She cannot return to Ethopia because the three of them will be killed. Unknown to me, Seattle has one of the largest Ethopian populations in the United States. A peer community has helped all of them adjust and assimilate.
Arriving at the airport, I felt inspired and privileged to meet this courageous woman and told her so. I felt honored that she shared some of her story with me. I was reminded we never know what circumstances a person has lived through or what they've lost or the pain they carry. My eyes and ears are open for other everyday heroes...like James and his friend who are homeless. I said a silent prayer of thanks to God that was not my assignment this time around along with a heart filled with gratitude for my life.
Slipstream
What a wonderful story! It’s important to tell our experiences with the Yordanas and Fallous and their goodness and kindness. The hero of a very famous book often spoke of welcoming the stranger and loving our neighbor. Practicing that is the right thing to do. Thanks so much for sharing.
Present Valley
Thank you for your comment.
I appreciate the reminder about welcoming strangers and loving neighbors!
Evangel
Yordana's life story is truly a success story of landing on one's feet, because around the globe millions of refugees are fleeing conflict zones or territories impacted by climate change but have no place to go. For the vast majority, no country will take them, so they end up in some no man's land on a hillside or desert where crowded refugee camps have been set up. Families wait for years for someone to take them in with open arms. Yordana hit the jackpot by having a cousin who could vouch for her and agree to help her and her children get settled. Had this not been the case, god knows what would have happened to her and her children. God blessed her for sure.
Thank you for sharing this story. It's a reminder that people come here because someone is willing to help them. And for those who don't believe "those people" belong here or should be allowed in, it's only because they've been lucky enough to never experience the brutal hardships that forced these refugees from their homeland.
Present Valley
Thank you for your comment.
She now has many new fans rooting for the success of her family and
understanding her courage...that is so beautiful!
Your words are so true!
Wilsons Grave
I liked your upbeat story. It's gotta be brutal to have your life turned upside down like that and escape into a foreign land leaving loved ones behind. I hope her kids are accepted here and can all remain together and grow up to make her proud.
Present Valley
Thank you Wilson for your comment.
Even though she does not know that she has new fans rooting for their success...she does...and I think that is a beautiful thing😊
Music City
What a great story, so glad you shared this story of hope. She truly is a hero!
Present Valley
Thank you for your comment.
I'm glad you see her as a hero too.
Homeless Valley
It so warms my heart to read this awesome story and see how you've featured her beautiful face and elevated her to "hero." Yes she is. I can only imagine the hell she went through to save her children first and foremost. It's what any good mother would attempt to do at any cost, and it's heroic.
Sadly, I can't help but contrast your story to the heartbreaking story I heard this week about a boy, a Haitian immigrant fresh out of high school who was a standout soccer player and member of ROTC. He had just started college, but after ICE officials came around and locked an ankle monitor around one of his legs, the kids made fun of him and he feared deportation, though he was here legally. It was all too much for him so ended his life by walking into traffic on Interstate 70.
Present Valley
First of all thank you for your thoughtful post.
Oh Oh Oh, this is a tragedy happening all too often these days. That makes my heart so sad. Thank you for sharing this story. My concern for Jordans's children is they have the support they need so this does not happen to them.
I think humans have a long way to go in accepting and embracing differences in others. Recently I heard a psychiatrist say "shame is an act of violence and it disintegrates us neurologically." Unfortunately, I do believe that is true.