There is Life
In Mexico City, my great-grandfather sold
Virgin Mary cards and statues on the bus
Even though only a few months before
He had been the master of many men
As the owner of factories
But now he hobbled in cracked leather shoes
Down the dusty bus aisle
Where tired taco vendors and shoe shiners
With weary, vacant eyes nodded off
to the bumpy beat of endless potholes
Even though he missed his five brothers
And becoming a hawker in a bus was far from
What he had been
His heart danced in the eye of the storm
For at least he was alive, alive
Hitler may have stolen his life in Lithuania
But he hadn’t stolen his soul
A year or two later, when he had heard
nothing from his five brothers
My great-grandfather returned to Lithuania
To find what he had left behind
But there was no trace of his beloved brothers or parents
Only the smoking ashes of their homes
And the shattered pictures and pieces of their lives
As my great-grandfather sat in the ashes
with his heart in his hands
A voice shook him back to life
“Your cousin is alive. I’ve kept her in my closet.”
It was Ilse, her German nanny
And suddenly, there was hope
Like sunlight on a dove’s breast
As he strode down the gatve
To the closet where his cousin hid
Because perhaps, after all,
There was something left behind in the storm
This little girl, a glimmer of his lost brother
For even in the ashes of war
There is life.
Page created on 5/25/2022 2:54:57 AM
Last edited 5/25/2022 3:04:41 AM
Michel Nickin, 15
Michel knows drawing is his kryptonite. In 7th grade, everyone thought his cat drawing was a fish. How that happened no one knows. After several desperate drawing lessons, Michel was finally able to draw a recognizable cat, and to this day, Michel is proud to say he can draw the best cat anyone has seen. Michel likes using deductive reasoning to figure out what he’s doing wrong and predict human behavior. As one of the shortest boys on his water polo team, he likes figuring out patterns to make up for what he lacks in height. Michel is proud of his Hispanic heritage and how his people can concoct deliciousness from such simple ingredients, and in his spare time, he turns food into art. He grew up watching his great-grandfather, El Abu, cook meals for 90 guests in a pot so large it was as tall as he was! Michel is proud of coming from a very close extended family--so close his grandfather and his brothers had a family business where they put all their savings into one shared extended family pot. Michel comes from a long line of servant leaders who believe in trust, generosity and compassionate civic duty.
