Casa de Naomi Reflections

If Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing took place today, what Naomi experiences would be classified at Human Trafficking. For The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, defines this crime against humanity as “…an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them.”

I bring this up because the public discourse about illegal immigrants changed when the category of Human Trafficking was accepted and, “…the UNODC, as guardian of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and the Protocols thereto, assists States in their efforts to implement the  Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (Trafficking in Persons Protocol),” separated that heinous crime from it’s inciting incident  which is an individuals need to change their life, thus endangering them.

Therefore, please note that when I speak of illegal’s I speak about those brought into this country illegally that do not know what their lot will be, but assume it will be better than where they came from.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Today’s Read~~~~~~~~

Resigned to the situation, Naomi tried to find something positive to think about, she saw that a baby grand piano held the place of prominence in the sparsely furnished room and smiled in spite of herself when memories of playing the piano for Abuela Sosa surfaced. She reconsidered her assessment of the place and added the word grand. When her consciousness flooded with memories of the many times she had played for the Sosas’ blind grandmother, she reminded herself, That was another time, another place. Abuela Sosa is no more. Images that had brought her comfort as she traveled the world with them flashed before her eyes. In an attempt to stop them, she reminded herself that the promises they had made they had broken. Now those bright hopes will only bring you pain. It is best you think about this situation since it seems worse than the one you just left.

“Come.” The old tía pulled her through the living and dining rooms while she searched her ring. When they crossed the kitchen’s threshold, she found it and unlocked the handcuffs. She eyed Naomi. “This was just a precaution!” She threw the handcuffs down on the battered kitchen table.

Naomi looked at the cold steel.

“Sit down!”

Naomi obeyed, felt her will disappear, and wondered if the old tía viewed her as a tool to mold to her demands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Reflection~~~~~~

Do you try to help others and end up hurting yourself?

Is this a habit, a life style, or do you get joy from living your life this way?

If you could find a way to change your behavior, would you, and why? If not, why not?


~~~~~~~~~~~Authors Comment~~~~~~~~~


Everything in life has a value and either a positive or negative emotion attached to it. Although our hard drive may have become programmed to do anything to get noticed because we are cogent we can retrain our responses thereby freeing ourselves of the need to feel better if we feel worse, or if we place others needs above ours.

However, our society seems to value selflessness. Therefore, the question one must ask and answer is who matters most? If you do, then your course is set. That is until you fall in love. For love has been known to be the great equalizer. And passionate love the great deflator if the object one loves does not respond in kind.

Contrary to popular opinion, to be self-centered does not necessarily mean that one is less likely to experience angst, or rejection. For the one who loves self might do so superficially to hide a deep loathing.

Caught between the proverbial ‘ying and yang’ of the id one might wish they could live in Limbo Land, and some do. Enter Human Trafficking and Naomi’s plight which needs to be understood within the larger issue of illegal immigrants who come from every place and look just like you and me! That’s right! Though they are suspect, they might not be the ones that are killing Americans at the boarder! Their not just Mexican, or Spanish. Their not coming here to wage war against America anymore than your family did when they first came here. There here because being there is horrid! So the next time someone looks at you esque, it just may be that their wondering if you’re here legally.


Now that you’ve walked a mile in Naomi’s footsteps’ you might understand her plight as we move on. And you might have taken a moment to think about what you would do if you were this frightened teenager.  

If you think I’m misguided in what I say, let me share that while withdrawing funds at my local bank my teller who had read Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing, shared that years ago she was telling a coworker about the vacation she was going to take, and discovered that this blue-eyed, blond haired woman could not go on vacation because she was an illegal immigrant. The teller was amazed for this woman looked and sounded as if her family had been here for many years. However, because my teller was of Latin decent and her family spoke Spanish at home, she often noticed many cast curious glances her way.

Ask yourself, "What would I do, how would I feel if that happened to me?" When you know the answer to that question, you will be better equipped for whatever life brings your way.

Until next time, may all your days be blessed, and may you rest assured in Messiahs blessing!

To order your copy of Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing, visit http://www.amazon.com/