My heart is with Mexico

September 19 marks 32 years of Mexico's 8.1-magnitude earthquake with a 7.7 aftershock a day later. Ironically enough, there was a 7.1 earthquake this morning.

I should have been working today, but I took a personal day to tour one of the schools we would like my daughter to go to next year. You may also know, tomorrow is Rosh Hashanah so I was making pastry deliveries when all of a sudden I noticed around 80 messages on a family chat where all my relatives are included. Although we communicate daily and often, I knew something was wrong with that amount of texts. Once I was able to park and go through the texts, I learned of the earthquake. Some sent voice messages and I noticed fear and nervousness in their voice. Thank G-d they are all safe, rattled and shocked, but safe!

This event brought back so many memories. I was 6 years old when I experienced my first earthquake, and one of the worst ones in the history of Mexico. I vividly remember being at the kitchen table practicing vocabulary and having breakfast when all of a sudden, the pantry doors started swinging and the kitchen lamp swaying back and forth. I had no idea what was happening and in an instant my dad was carrying me out and taking me to my mom and brother.

The earthquake was devastating, especially downtown. My best friend's parents are doctors so after dropping off my BFF and her little brother at school, they went downtown to volunteer and rescue people trapped in buildings. After school my mom picked me, my BBF and her brother since their parents would be volunteering until needed. My friends are not twins, but they share their birth date which happened to be that day. My mom somehow managed to buy a cake so we could celebrate their birthday while their parents saved lives. We didn't have news from them for hours and if I remember correctly their parents didn't come home until very late that night. Every September 19th, I have two things in my mind, my friends' birthday and the earthquake.

32 years later, I am living this earthquake from a distance. It is so hard to be away from your family during though times but I am grateful for the technology we have nowadays.

I was able to learn pretty quickly that all my friends and my family were safe. I love that people can now mark themselves  "safe" on Facebook  but watching a few videos of fires and fallen buildings made me even more nervous, since most of my relatives work downtown, where most of the damage was reported. There was some damage in my brother's building but nothing like what I've seen on TV. 

My heart goes out to the families who suffered a loss.

I may not be proud of my country's government in this last decade or so, I am angry about the lack of safety in Mexico. I am saddened about the poverty in Mexico but I am proud of the people that make Mexico great. 

People who are out there volunteering, trying to make a difference and helping others. 

Mexicans are fighters, resilient and most of all we have a great heart and when help is needed, we jump in to help others.

I am proud of my friends who are safe and going out to the streets to make sure their neighbors are okay, others bringing water and food to the volunteers. My heart fills with joy seeing so many volunteers. 

This is the Mexico I wish for all us, a place where we all look out for each other, where we work together to make our country better and fight against bureaucracy and crime. 

My heart is with you, my heart is with Mexico.