Marta's Long Road to Boston

Chicago protesters join some of the millions of anti-
Trump protesters around the U.S. November 9, 2016  

One of the unavoidable realities of this existence is that there are times when events beyond our control alter the course of our daily lives in ways that we are powerless to stop.

The event might be perceived as good or bad, or neutral, but there's no way to predict the impact of the exhilaration, joy or terror that can accompany the realization that one is being swept along by change we have little control over.

Regardless of whether we asked for that change, or it found us.

Like the sickening feeling of dread that gripped millions of Americans on the morning of November 9, 2016 when the reality that an unstable, openly-racist, con-man had been elected president began to sink in - despite 3 million more Democrats voting for Hillary Clinton, Trump still won.

Just ask the tens of thousands of hardworking, taxpaying, undocumented immigrants how they and their families have been affected by their lives being upended by the Jeff Sessions-led Department of Justice unleashing ICE agents like some kind of Gestapo force manifesting Trump's xenophobia.

Ask those immigrants how the 2016 election changed their lives.

A tainted election thanks in no small part to the collection of corrupted Russian oligarchs and assorted functionaries and puppets of the Russian intelligence community who willingly and actively manipulated the outcome of the 2016 presidential elections to appease Russian President Vladimir Putin's open contempt for Hillary Clinton by using a gullible, conceited American real estate investor turned reality show host to help undermine Democratic institutions in the U.S.

Two long years later, as Trump's pointless, puerile government shutdown enters its 20th day, millions of hardworking Americans are being swept towards a frightening economic uncertainty with no apparent end in sight.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers in September of
2008 heralded unprecedented change for millions

Especially after "Mr. Art of the Deal" had a hissy-fit, banged the table and walked out of face-to-face negotiations with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Congressional leaders at the White House on Wednesday after being told by Pelosi that he would not be getting his wall.

The people affected by President Man-Baby's tantrum include almost 800,000 federal workers, along with tens of thousands of outside contractors in sectors like defense and aerospace who work with shuttered federal agencies.

Folks facing the daunting reality that there will be no paycheck for them this Friday January 11th.

For anyone who has ever been laid off, as I was during the Great Recession back in June of 2009, the gnawing anxiety of knowing that bills are coming and food needs to be purchased despite having no paycheck on the way, is all too familiar.

Now even though change isn't always bad per-se, it's effects can wreak havoc in our daily lives, and unceremoniously upend routines we've known (or depended on) for years.

Last summer, smack dab in the middle of the busiest time of the year for residential apartment rentals, there were a lot of changes afoot at the real estate management company I've worked for since 2012.

At the precise moment when I was under the most intense pressure to sign leases and get vacant apartments rented, some internal company drama related to personnel changes that had begun simmering back in the spring of 2018 came to a heated boil in the summer which began taking a greater than usual toll on me emotionally and mentally.

The horror of writer's block

Those of you who may have followed my blog over the years may have noticed a precipitous drop-off in the frequency of my posts starting last April - it wasn't because I lost interest in writing or the desire to explore the topics which capture my attention.

Truth be told I was thinking of leaving the company during the summer when out of the blue, a senior manager at a sister property retired after 30-some years quite unexpectedly.

When a new position opened up I rolled the dice and applied for it - and ended up crushing the interview.

By late September I started in a new office with a new staff, new supervisor, new salary (yay!) and new hours which mean I no longer have to work every other Saturday - but the price is that I now have to get up at 5:15am, three hours earlier than I'd been getting up for the previous six years.

And I'm fine with that.

But with the changes in light and weather that accompany autumn, it took me weeks to get accustomed to the new hours, new job demands and adjust my sleep schedule to be in bed so much earlier - the weekday night-owl time I used to have to write was gone, and I didn't post a single blog between September 10th and January.

The career change I sought back in the summer impacted my creative efforts in ways I couldn't possibly have predicted.

The change was good for me, I'm enjoying the new job, I do quite a bit of writing there for the company (it's nice to be in a position to use one of my strengths professionally), I enjoy the challenges that come with property management, and I meet a lot of interesting people during the course of the day.

But not all change is good.

Immigration crisis? Or crisis of conscience?

One of the most interesting people in my new job was a woman I'll call "Marta" who immigrated to the U.S. years ago from a country located south of the Texas border; she's lived and worked here for years.

The property where I now work is huge, it sits on about 60 acres, 57 different buildings, well over 800 apartments.

Marta's job was to clean vacated the apartments after they'd been prepped and painted to make them ready for rental.

The residents there are very diverse, and a number of the employees and residents speak Spanish; Marta didn't speak a lot of English, and my Spanish is OK (I've been using the Duolingo app to brush up) but we communicated; and we're fortunate to have an office coordinator who is bi-lingual and could translate for Marta when needed.

Marta worked really hard, and she always managed to have a smile on her face, one that could light up a room, even when it was busy or freezing cold out - she was in and out of the office where I work a lot during the day so I interacted with her on a daily basis.

Whether it's carpenters, plumbers, leasing representatives or grounds crew, property management is a team effort; and over the 3-months I worked with her Marta was an important part of out team.

But last week she announced that she had to resign her position because her adult daughter up in Boston is facing an immigration hearing and she's going to be deported from the U.S. in a few weeks.

Marta's daughter is being taken to an immigration facility somewhere, and she wouldn't be able to take care of her 6-month daughter, a U.S. citizen by birth - so Marta had to move to Boston to take care of her 6-month-year-old granddaughter so the child can stay in the U.S. and the father can work.

Is this who we are as a country?

Sadly, Marta's daughter also has a 7-year-old daughter who is not a U.S. citizen, so she's going to be deported along with her mother.

Leaving her baby sister, grandmother and other family behind.

When Marta came into the office last Friday to explain why she was leaving, I could see how the stress and pressure of her circumstances was weighing on her.

In a very short time she had to make arrangements to pack her belongings, leave her apartment, friends and her job to move up to Boston in the middle of winter, a city she's never lived in.

Simply because Trump's draconian immigration policy treats people like Marta's daughter and granddaughter as "enemies of the state" - people to be feared, despised and deported.

As if their very existence was some kind of criminal act that merits punishment in the eyes of those who think a gigantic wall built along the southern border will somehow make America a better place.

It's been hard for me to get Marta out of my mind this week, her departure was so sudden, she was an important part of our team and suddenly, through no fault of her own, change swept her away from her job and community.

Yet she faced that change with a stoic determination and resolve that comes from a place of strength, love and compassion.

Before she left last Friday we assured Marta that she had a job waiting if and when circumstances allowed her to return to New Jersey - but I doubt she could think of anything other than the fact that her daughter will be going to a detention facility before being deported.

Even as the demands of the job pulled me back to the tasks which must be done, I find it hard thinking of Marta swept up by change beyond her control; change that found her.

Facing that long road to Boston.