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Celebrating Abuela

May 7, 2011 By Marta Darby 1 Comment

I never knew my grandparents.

We left Cuba when I was so very young that I barely remember my grandmothers. I think my dad's parents had already passed away by the time I was born. And I have just the few mental snapshots that a five year old can retain of my mom's mother.

Here's a beautiful old photo of her, my maternal grandmother, Osmunda Perez-Puelles when she was pregnant with my Tio Fernando. (Incidentally, Tio Fernando will be turning 100 in Miami next week.)

1a - pregnant abuela

The only abuela I have ever known is this woman in this 100 year old photograph.

My mom says that maybe that's why I have always loved old people. And it's true. I am very aware of the richness of life that most older people have to impart to us "youngsters." That attracts me tremendously.

I hope to be that wise old woman myself to my (as yet, unborn) grandchildren someday.

It's from this perspective of not really ever having had a grandmother in my life that I worked on this beautiful project for Tiki Tiki Blog.

It's a fabulous collection of stories by seven women who fondly remember their grandmothers and share their reminiscences.

Abuelitas photo collage copy

Tiki Tiki readers submitted photos of their grandmothers and I am extremely proud to say that I designed this cover and created this E-book, Celebrating Abuela. (I know. Shut up. Get the sandpaper…)

Of course, I also added the photo of my mom, Luza (left-hand side of cover), because she is the Quintescential Cuban Grandmother.

Please download your free copy of this 40 page book by clicking this link: Download Celebrating Abuela with Tiki Tiki.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you from me and my big, fat, Cuban family and from my good friend, Carrie at Tiki Tiki Blog. She's completely genius when it comes to collecting and editing these wonderful stories. (My job is just to make it all look pretty, but that's not important right now.)

Logo

And to those of you who still have her with you, celebrate your abuela.

Besos! ~Marta

You might also like:

“Felicidades, Abuela!” (state your name) Abuela Mami Brings Cuban Love to Your Doorstep Celebrating birthdays in Middle-earth Celebrating National Guava Month (Oh, yes I am.)

Filed Under: My Big, Fat, Cuban Family Tagged With: abuela, abuelas Cubanas, books, Celebrating Abuela e book, creative stuff, Cuban grandmothers, ebook, el tiki tiki, My Big, Fat, Cuban Family, Tiki Tiki Blog

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  1. Carrie says

    May 10, 2011 at 7:24 pm

    We are a dynamic duo.You are a talented and fabulous woman, Marta Darby.
    I will forever be your bossy midwife is you allow me! LOL

    Reply

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For a while there, I was overwhelmed by the once easy task of documenting my day-to-day life.Everywhere I looked, people moved on to high production video and I was hopelessly lost, so I put writing on the shelf and happily got caught up on all the seasons I’ve missed from the Great British Baking Show.But then, as I often say, “life is in session,” and my life was accumulating entire chapters before I could even type, “Oh, the Cubanity!”Which brings us to today. I’m starting to dip my toe back into writing online. Mostly, I miss the writing and telling about my extraordinarily ordinary life and the daily happenings at Casa de la Loma.So, tell me: Do you have any questions for me as I get back into the over-sharing of my days? 👀#mybigfatcubanfamily #belikemarta #callmewella #mbfcf
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Marta Verdes Darby is a Cuban-American food blogger in South Orange County.

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