At the international airport of my country, I have said goodbye to other loved ones who are leaving. All my brothers have left, half of my cousins have left, almost all my nephews are gone, and my friends have not left, almost because I have made new friends. Most of them, if I see them again a couple of times in my life, will be by a lot of luck; but we smile.

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We smile because we celebrate having had each other; we smile because one of us got a path to hope; we smile because it is already a habit for us to be happy when we are together.

Yesterday I offered to think about the option of leaving to a 10-year-old girl (one of those who have left), and since I am a woman of my word, today I spent the whole day thinking about it. There is always talk about the immigrant and the emigrant, but there is not even a word to talk about the "emigrant", the one who, like most of us (those who stayed), was uprooted in his land; what used to bind me here, my roots (my loved ones, my favorite dishes and places, my social-family customs) are no longer there and will not return; but I am staying.*

Big dreams are now "impossible", small pleasures so scarce that they no longer count, and everyday life so heavy that it is difficult to bear; but I stay. Sometimes I don't know whether to be happy or embarrassed that my two professional daughters (with their dreams cut short) haven't left yet, but I'm staying.

The truth is that staying is bleak...

But life is too short to live it in desolation, so from today I propose, as long as I decide not to leave, to fill my life with reasons to stay, more than the simple fear of leaving.

To begin with: I am staying because it has to be of some use to add hard and honest work to this country wounded by laziness and corruption; I am staying as a sign of trust to this land in which few people believe anymore; I am staying to learn and teach believing in miracles; I am staying because God has not directed me to the contrary; I am staying because now it is a challenge for me to build new pleasures and new dreams; I am staying so that those who have left have reasons not to leave this land ever.

Staying is also emigrating because my country has definitely changed for a long time

My heart wrinkles and my eye's water out writing this post, but if I'm right and those who have already been living abroad for 3 years and a few years without being able to return, what they most want is to be able to return. To return for a while or definitely not know because of hyperinflation and social economic instability, but to return to our beautiful country.

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My brothers (there are 7 of us, and I am the eldest of the clan) got married to people from other countries with different cultural backgrounds and identities (the family that has been my family for many years, they are from the USA, France, England, Germany, Holland and me with a native "local" from my country) they my brothers always tell their husbands and wives that they dream of bringing them to discover the most beautiful country and that it is possible that in 2025 they will be able to fulfill that dream and see us all reunited in a loving and fraternal embrace.

The family's support base is firm, only it is scattered in fragments migrated to different countries in different languages and continents where the values of the family are where every citizen of this country is. Having the express conviction of making every child born as a migrant a citizen.

Today, I am the result of learning to be this woman who is filled with joy when chatting with those who contributed to being who I am today. Those looks that accompany me, without rancor, are good to leave teachings that I am learning today.

From where I am, I look at the side, my environment for sure that there is an ally committed from his honesty to forge the innovative reality that I am convinced will be totally different. I think it may be of interest to those who follow me for my authenticity in talking about the other side of the migratory coin to those of us who stay. In such a way, my dear fellow human beings, and readers from other continents, in this chaos and against this chaos, for now, I am staying in this great country.