Mi tocaya

"Tocayo/a" in Spanish means "namesake."  In some places, it is used generally to describe people with the same first names.

On Monday, I met a patient named Karla.  She is 19 years old, undocumented from Mexico, has two small children, and is suffering from genital herpes and depression.

I have talked to Karla several times on the phone since probably late November or early December.  She is a super sweet girl and I could totally imagine us being friends.

There are actually many women named Carla or Karla at my clinic, and also several named Lucia (my middle name).  But there was something about my interaction with this particular Karla that struck me.  Maybe it was the way she asked if I have children, or about what I'm doing this year, or about what I'll do after I leave Savannah.  Perhaps it was our closeness in age, our similar builds, and our almost identical names.

Sometimes, the amount of privilege I have just overwhelms me when I'm at work.  I get embarrassed of having a college education and of getting ready for graduate school.  I'm ashamed to say how many places I've visited. I have all the freedoms in the world: I'm young, single, and a U.S. citizen.  When I talk to people like Karla, I can't help but wonder how I seem to have drawn all the good cards.