Be Kind and You Will Be All the Rest

Last December, I was visiting Chihuahua during the holidays. One day at noon, I sent a quick message to a group of longtime friends: "Hey, want to get together tonight around 7pm?"

A dozen people showed up.

There was no elaborate planning. No weeks of coordination. Just a spontaneous text to friends I hadn't seen in years, and within hours we were laughing around a table like no time had passed at all. The conversation flowed effortlessly between inside jokes from our teenage years and updates on our current lives. It was magical. But it wasn't luck.

My phone buzzes daily with WhatsApp messages from different decades of my life. Elementary school soccer teammates. High school troublemakers. Friends from cities I lived on fifteen years ago. When we reunite after years apart, conversations flow as if we'd never left off. The laughter picks up mid-sentence. The teasing resumes without missing a beat.

Growing up in Mexico shaped this approach to connection. While Americans prioritize independence—a valuable trait, no doubt—we embrace interdependence. No one raises an eyebrow when a twenty-five-year-old lives with their parents or when friends drop by unannounced for beers.