DAWN LAZO—Choosing Joy

Dawn Lazo-  

What’s your faith story?

 At different times in my life I had gone to church and to church functions, but I had never actually accepted Jesus into my heart. Things changed when my sister was fourteen and ran away from home. My family went through a really difficult time. That is when I decided that I wanted Jesus to be Lord of my life. My mom led me to Jesus and I accepted him into my heart as my personal savior. We had had a bad situation but it got turned around and God made something good out of it.

At that point, did the way you lived change? 

Probably not as drastically as later on. Being only fourteen I still didn’t completely understand what it really truly meant to be a follower of Jesus and surrender your life. God didn’t really start changing me until my husband was taken from me.

How did you meet your husband?

I met my husband one day when I was taking out my trash. His apartment building and my building shared the same trash dumpster and he happened to be standing outside, talking to a buddy. I had to walk right by both of them to get to the dumpster. I didn’t want to be rude and so I spoke to them both. During that conversation we introduced ourselves. He remembered my name the next day and in which building I lived, but he didn’t know my apartment number. He buzzed all the apartments looking for me until he reached my neighbor who told him where I lived. Then he actually asked me out on a date. We dated for three years then got married in October of 2002.

Tell me about your husband’s experience with immigration?

My husband and I are currently separated geographically. I am here in Michigan and my husband is in his country ( Honduras). He got in trouble with the law and immigration took him into their custody and he lost his privilege of being here legally in the United States. He was deported to Honduras and placed on a ten year ban.But Milo had three children in Texas, whom he dearly loved. He couldn’t fathom not seeing his babies again.So he did, maybe what any parent would do and returned to the States. He wasn’t really thinking about the consequences.  

He was here for eleven years before immigration actually found him again. During those eleven years he didn’t do anything wrong. He paid federal and state taxes and child support through the court.He had a good job. We had a beautiful home in Grand Rapids and then one day it all came to a crashing halt. Immigration found him here and placed him in prison again for the incident that had occurred in Texas. He was in prison for two and a half years.Then they deported him back to Honduras in May of  2012, on a twenty year ban. Milo spent a little bit of time in Italy where he has family, but he’s not tried to return to the United States since.

As an American citizen, how has your life been affected by the twenty year ban?

My life has been affected by this twenty year ban gravely. They took my husband away from me in a physical sense. We went from having a beautiful life together with a beautiful home to losing everything. We were very very happy one day then all of a sudden he was gone the next. I found myself in a house that used to mean so much to me and I realized that it was just a house. It didn’t really mean anything to me without Milo. At the time many people were being forced into foreclosure because their homes just weren’t selling and that’s exactly what happened to my home.I ended up having to come back to live with my parents.

 I have learned to deal with the separation but  I would never wish this kind of a separation on my worst enemy. I have learned that immigration cannot break my spirit and they cannot break Milo’s spirit. We have chosen to overcome and stay together and try to make this situation work as best as we can. 

What is your relationship with Milo like now?

We still talk to one another three times a day. He calls me every morning, every afternoon, and every evening. I try to go see him at least twice a year. I go see him for about three to three and a half weeks at a time. I’m so thankful that I have a job that allows me to do that and that I earn that much vacation time.

 I have learned that with God all things are possible. Milo and I make a choice every day to make our marriage work. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning and I realize that it’s just another day that I don’t get to spend with my husband. But I have learned that you can still choose joy even in the midst of hard circumstances.God has brought me through almost ten years of separation. You can choose to be happy or you can choose to be miserable. I don’t want to be that kind of person. I don’t want to be the kind of person who spreads bitterness either. I want to be the kind of person that when people look at me they will see Jesus. I never dreamed when I was fourteen and accepted Jesus into my life that I would ever have to learn such a hard lesson, but it’s okay because God is always with me.

My situation was ugly but my marriage to Milo is good. Our problem doesn’t define Milo as a person. He’s a kind and loving husband. 

What’s your favorite part of your daily routine? I work from home in my basement office. My favorite part is when I get to come upstairs after work and I don’t have anywhere to go. I have time to be with my mom. 

What has been your favorite job? Working for Priority Health as a trainer in the  claims department. I absolutely loved the training piece. However, it was very demanding. I was training on two procedures and everything was being written in paper. It was physically exhausting. So I went back to the claims department. I’m glad I can still do individual training on occasion.

What’s your dream for the future? That a God will one day reunite my husband and I so we can live together again.