A grandfather reflects on immigration, so-called "illegals," and human connection through a story inspired by a real encounter at a street-corner vigil.
Christi Ortiz is a licensed marriage and family therapist by profession and a poet by passion, she says.
Early morning meditation is what gives rise to her poetry, which she'll be sharing on this site. Ortiz says her poetry echos the stories from various faith traditions and offers her words as an opportunity to meditate and explore.
Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of FāVS.News, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Associate Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.
