Spanning the Divide

Bridge in Portland, Ore.

Sometimes you can work alongside and know nothing more than a person’s title. Or by perchance, in a brief few minutes, you can be invited into a window of someone’s CORE.

In conversation with someone new who works in my building, I heard and learned a fascinating story. A refugee from Ethiopia, in 7 years he has brought to Canada, his (now) wife and a handful of family members. He and his wife now have 2 (he said joyously) Canadian children.

He has a degree in the environmental sciences and his wife worked as an engineer. Neither were able to secure similar employment in this land of freedom, they both do work with their hands. He said that he has done 1, 2, or 3 jobs simultaneously to get ahead. “It will not last forever and I am doing this for my children. I am the Bridge.”

"I am the Bridge." (Click to Tweet)

Are you a Bridge? Have you or are you in this very moment, putting aside your own dreams/needs and desires to make it better in the future for someone else?

Ralph Marston’s words are posted at my desk. When I am feeling weary, I read these words to hold me up. Because if we each built a Bridge, how far could we go?