A Thousand Miles

Weekly wisdom to bring you home in 3 minutes.

A SHORT STORY

This past weekend, Anastasiia and I took her mother on a road trip to the Hudson Valley to go apple picking. As one usually does, we put on a road trip playlist on Spotify and soon found ourselves singing along to the music.

One song, in particular, came on that prompted me to tell a story—Vanessa Carlton’s A Thousand Miles. I remembered how I had just arrived in Dadaab only two weeks prior and had quickly become friends with the refugee staff in the UN compound.

There was Angelo, from Ethiopia, who told me about his journey from Ethiopia to Dadaab to escape the Anuak genocide in 2003. He had walked hundreds of miles in fear for his life, searching for safety and the hope of a better future.

He spoke of how much he missed his wife and daughter, and how every day he worked to send money back home—with the dream of one day being resettled in the U.S.

As night fell and it was time for us to leave, we said our goodbyes. Angelo started to walk away, then pulled out his cell phone and played Vanessa Carlton’s song as he disappeared into the moonlit distance.

He understood those lyrics deeply and played them again and again:

As I told this story to my family, I shared that powerful image—and the enduring idea of love. How much we would do, how far we would walk, to be with each other again.

A POEM

“Cross that Line” by Naomi Shihab Nye

Paul Robeson stood
on the northern border
of the USA
and sang into Canada
where a vast audience
sat on folding chairs
waiting to hear him.

He sang into Canada.
His voice left the USA
when his body was
not allowed to cross
that line.

Remind us again,
brave friend.
What countries may we
sing into?
What lines should we all
be crossing?
What songs travel toward us
from far away
to deepen our days?

Grateful,

Michael