A Boy Separated from His Mom at the Border Faces His First Christmas without Her

After breakfast at his aunt's house, Isaac Flores Amador, 11, drinks water and listens to a story being told by his extended family. [Photo: Sebastián Hidalgo for The Washington Post]

The boy stood in the front of the church, flanked by his cousins yet utterly alone.

It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and the four children had been called before their congregation to speak. One by one, they listed the things for which they were grateful: their friends, their siblings and, above all, their parents.

When it was his turn, the boy took the microphone reluctantly.

“I’m grateful for my life and —” Isaac Flores Amador began.

Then the 11-year-old burst into tears.

“And for my mom,” he sobbed as his pastor, David Santana, hurried to give the child a hug.

Michael E. Miller shares the story of Isaac Flores Amador, an 11-year-old immigrant boy who was separated from his mother, as Christmas approaches.