Staten Island should not be treated as the forgotten step-child of Manhattan any longer!
An open letter to my best friend
I’ve been hesitant to comment publicly and personally about your nightmare. I want people to hear it firsthand from you and your family on your timing alone. I wrote this letter publicly because people need to publicly see how you’ve affected my life.
If this is supposed to be where I tell you how sorry I am for your loss, I can’t even begin to imagine, let alone understand or speak.
If this is supposed to be where I throw you a cutesy Christian catchphrase, well, it’s hard as hell to believe in anything right now, let alone Anyone.
If this is supposed to be where I say to let me know if you need anything, my pride might like that too much, and your pride might not let me.
And if this is supposed to be where I share a fond memory of your beautiful & sassy sister, Sarai, the truth is, I’ve only met her a hand full of times.
I am however thankful for getting a glimpse into her life by the wider portrait you and your family have painted in the past four years alone. I am also grateful that this momentary affliction is merely a blip on a radar in comparison to the glory that awaits us. For now, we shall divinely reflect:
-On the courageousness of a brother and a husband traveling to the ends of the earth in pursuit of a loved one when all is bleak.
-On the strength of a mother who put food on the table, clothes on your back, and raised you with a faith that has upheld your family.
-On the unification of a church, local and universal, united in prayer & support of a small family from a small neighborhood in a small New York City borough.
-And on the graciousness of a God who has answered prayers according to His will, orchestrates behinds the scenes, uses the foolish, sweats blood in anguish, weeps sorrowfully with friends, flips tables in anger, and was brutally, unjustly, and bloodily murdered “too soon” for our sake and for our sin.
Oh Hallelujah, what a Savior!
I know you have always admired your “big brother” Steve, and I’m sure his kids look up to you both in the same, but on this day, and forever after, you are each an inspiration to the entire world. May God use it all for His glory. May God have mercy on those who wrong His people. May the Jimenez & Sierra family receive the parental peace of the Heavenly Father. And may Sarai Sierra’s legacy continue throughout all of your lives.
(Please consider buying Sarai’s photos to help raise funds for the funeral. Here’s the link: http://instacanv.as/memyself_sarai)
Now is the time for us to rise to our feet.
The way things were.
Still love how one Staten Island hotel stuck it to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York Road Runners Association, who were demanding that rooms occupied by storm refugees be vacated and turned over to New York City Marathon runners who had reservations at the hotels. Fortunately, the mayor and the Road Runners dropped their myopic plan to go ahead with the marathon just a week after the storm, despite the city’s suffering.
“This to all of my enemies that see me getting guap right now …”
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