What matters most is always close to home

When I first moved away from home, in the small town I grew up in, I felt freedom. I was only one state away from the only community I knew as a kid, but for me it was an opportunity for a 20-year-old to prove that he could make it out on his own.

One thing remained consistent for the almost two decades since that move, my mom’s hints that I should move closer to family. In phone conversations and during holiday visits, she always made subtle suggestions on how great it would be for all the kids to be close to each other.

It’s something that Mexican moms do. I always brushed it off, but as time passed by, I began to appreciate those convincing subliminal messages. It’s not just countries like Italy where families live in very close quarters. The Italians don’t even have a word for privacy. It’s also barrios in Mexico where generations of families are destined to live with each other, never leaving home or the town of their grandparents.

Our abuelitos and abuelitas lived in one home, often the one handed down from their parents. All their lives they had one profession and shopped at the same local market. They had a family butcher and doctor. Their addresses and phone numbers didn’t change. You knew where to find them because they were always there.

They were living in quarantine not because they were told to but because their circumstance dictated it. Through it all, they were happy. Come to think of it, they were probably happier than we are today.

When you are poor, you don’t worry about buying the latest phone or trading in your new car for an even newer model. Your decisions are limited because the world has already decided them for you. Saving for a garage remodel is not a thing. The money you have is spent on everyday things like food. You don’t have much to spend on much else.

This life of quarantine has made us a little depressed because our modern day comforts seem far and away but what we do have remaining is what really matters. Mom kept hinting this valuable lesson to…

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