Personal Connections

"I love you with all my heart. I love you more than all the earth and all the sea. And all the stars and all the sky" (La Misma Luna, 2007, Directed by Patricia Riggen).

In this early scene in the movie, Rosario calls her son from a pay phone to talk for just minutes. She had been living in L.A. for nearly four years while her son remained in Mexico. She speaks these words to Carlos and cries when the call nears an end. La Misma Luna focuses on the characters' emotions to draw more attention to the humanistic side of the immigration issue in the U.S.

For a while, I would go once a week to our local nursing home for Alzheimer's and Dementia care to play games such as bingo with the residents. A few residents could play their own boards, but for most, I would walk around and place pieces after reading the letter and number. Most did not remember much about their own family members. None of them would remember me the next week I came. One sweet lady made the same comment each week: "This is a wonderful game for teaching children numbers!"

After a while, I found out my aunt had been diagnosed with dementia. This news had a big impact on me, having seen first-hand the disease's effects. I have many memories growing up around this aunt. We have sadly watched as she has lost her ability to work and function in the way she used to. Now when I return to the nursing home, I see my aunt in the people there. I recognize more fully that these people once lived normal lives. They had jobs, families, sweet memories, and hopes for the future. My personal connection through my aunt has made the issue something I care for more deeply.

My dad with my aunt

The makers of La Misma Luna wanted to create this kind of personal connection to the plight of immigrants. They wanted viewers of the film to see immigration laws not only from an economic viewpoint, but from seeing these people as human beings. From the very beginning of the movie, they establish the deep connection between Carlos and his mother to draw the viewer in emotionally.