Two L.A. women

Twice this week I sat down to lunch with someone whose life experience I can relate to and whose accomplishments I admire. Both are Latinas who come from working-class households in L.A. and, like me, did well in school, became the first in their family to attend college and, for the sake of career, dared to move away from California.

First, Adriana. A mutual acquaintance met her at a Hispanic Pros networking event in the neighborhood and said she was interested in becoming involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters' Latino Mentoring Advisory Council. We got together for lunch Tuesday near Lloyd Center and I listened as Adriana told her story of moving to the U.S. at age 3, only to have her parents divorce and then live with her father and a sister in downtown L.A.

She attended a large, public high school where nearly all the students are immigrants and have so many scholastic and financial obstacles to overcome. She spoke of caring teachers, of being selected for the talented and gifted program, and her own sense of adventure, which led to her choosing a small liberal arts college in Minnesota for college and then law school in Boston. Now she's an attorney for the state of Oregon and, on short notice Thursday, agreed to write an OpEd piece for The Oregonian in support of a bill that would allow illegal immigrants, like she once was, to qualify for in-state tuition. Read her piece right here. No doubt she'll get serious blowback from readers.


Three days later, I met with Esme, a Salvadoran immigrant whose parents also divorced, who graduated from USC's journalism school and then came to The Oregonian, due to my recruiting efforts (not a boast, just a fact). Yesterday was Esme's first time back in Oregon after leaving us last summer to return home to her sprawling family and a job at her dream employer, the Los Angeles Times. She did fabulous work here on the immigration beat, and endured all kinds of crap from those who demonize Latinos who are here legally or not, so I'm glad to know her editors have given her a lot of freedom to find and write stories about people who are doing interesting things and who incidentally are Latino.

Over mezza at a Lebanese restaurant on Hawthorne, we talked about family, about our newsrooms, about our blogs and, somehow, about spirituality (like me, she has issues with the Catholic Church; unlike me, she sees God's presence in more places than I do.) Though we all miss her at The Oregonian (she's a 4-foot-11 pistola of a person), I'm very happy that she's happy.

I don't know that Adriana and Esme will ever meet. But I sure feel fortunate to know both. I'm grateful for Esme's friendship and I look forward to working with Adriana on the advisory council. Si, se puede. Yes, we can.

Note: clipart provided by: www.worldatlas.com