by Julie Heifetz

For more than 40 years, as a psychotherapist and writer, I bore witness to and wrote the stories of countless numbers of trauma survivors: patients with brain and spinal cord injuries, cancer patients, and at-risk students.

In the late 1970s, I wrote a series of first-person narrative poems based on oral histories of Holocaust survivors, and performed those before an audience of more than 1000 at a national conference.

But what made me particularly nervous was the private reading before the conference to the keynote speaker, Elie Weisel. After that 50-minute presentation to an audience of one, Mr. Wiesel told me, "Keep bearing witness. Keep writing." I have done exactly that.

Three years ago, I relocated to San Miguel. Last year I learned that 40-50 years ago there were many taboos that prevented women from working here in San Miguel. And that slowly, through the influence of media and foreigners living in the city, women began to break free of restrictions. Little by little they started working and contributing to their families' finances and the city's economy. I wondered what else had changed in these women's lives: their relationships with men, with their mothers, with the church.

So, in Spanish and English, I began interviewing middle-class women between the ages of 40 and 60. These women had lived those cultural changes. I listened deeply. The interviews eventually turned into a theater piece, a series of monologues called "The Daughters of San Miguel de Allende," with five characters: a teacher, an engineer, a housekeeper, a masseuse and a lawyer.

Several of the women I interviewed thanked me for listening and sharing their stories. It is not in the Mexican culture to speak openly about personal issues, even among themselves. And they were especially surprised that expats would be interested in their lives and thoughts.

These women still straddle the past and present. There are ways in which they struggle internally with some of the changes. Women in other countries like the US are years ahead of them in the fight to be free, yet can identify with them and their long, difficult journey.

At the core, theirs are human stories that are universal while still being specific to the Mexican culture of San Miguel. I am struck by the truth that our similarities as women are more profound than our cultural differences.

There is so much to learn from these women I interviewed. I love them. I admire their strength. It has been such a privilege to listen.

From the show:

"In my family we have two kinds of women. One kind is like my mother and my aunts who think the man should always be the boss, and everything revolves around him. That's how they saw my father, and that's how he saw himself. My mom married him when she was 15 years old, a child. And this was how she was raised, that the man was king. "

"The Daughters of San Miguel de Allende" will be performed by five bi-lingual Mexican actresses, with Heifetz as director.

The five professional Mexican actresses who will deliver the monologues are outstanding. They have offered their appreciation, support and talent to this project ever since joining as a cast, and I am very grateful to them.

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Julie Heifetz has a degree in counseling with graduate work in writing. She has been writer-in-residence for the St. Louis Center for Holocaust Studies and MossRehab of Einstein Medical Center. She has performed several one-woman shows throughout the US and has a full musical to her credit, "Sarah's Song," for which she wrote the book and lyrics, and which was nominated for a regional Emmy. Her published books include Oral History and the Holocaust; Too Young to Remember; As Far As the I Can See.

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