Poker And Scraper

Meet Amparo (she got a kick out of this photo).  She is my dental hygienist.  I told her today that she is the only one I trust to stick her hands in my mouth and play with my bacteria.

Amparo was born in Baja, Mexico.  Her parents brought her to the Tucson, Arizona  area when she was 11 years old. She became a naturalized US citizen at the age of sixteen. She's bright, warm, kind and funny. 

During my visits with her we share stories about our lives and families. Her son graduated from high school this past May.  He has just started studying at the University of Arizona with a goal of becoming a doctor.  She told me he started out wanting to be a pediatrician. However, he's now considering plastic surgery, not for the money he could make with that specialty, but because he could use those skills to work with an organization like Doctors Without Borders to help children with disfigurements.  Things like cleft palettes. She told me her goal with her son was for him to become a good man.  I think she is doing a great job.

Something I feel compelled to say...

I have quite a few Mexican-Americans in my life (including my priest). Every single one of them is an exemplary human being...friendly, humble, hard-working and in possession of a wonderful heart.  It totally fries my ass when people think or say that they are somehow less than worthy of respect or citizenship.  Most of the southwest at one point was part of Mexico.  There are 7th, 8th or even 10th generation Mexican-Americans in Tucson.  [Arizona was the 48th state to join the Union (1912) followed only by Alaska and Hawaii.]  I dare anyone to utter a word to my face that would in any way disparage these fine people whose lives and heritage contribute so much to our community and our country.