I can't believe I'm still making threats. But I am.We were having a family portrait done before Lucy's graduation, and I know them all so well."Get your squirmy, silly-face stuff out of your system before we get our picture taken, or I'll . . ."So, I turned my camera on them and this is what they did. It's inevitable. They never pose with ...
My Big, Fat, Cuban Family
Family is everything to me. I love them more than words can describe.
In her lifetime . . .
1969 was the year in which I graduated from 8th grade and in the fall started high school. Richard Nixon was inaugurated as the 37th president that year. In July, the Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. walk on the moon. The World Trade Center had not yet been built. August saw more than half a million ...
Not another blonde joke . . .
Completely unapologetic about this - I have been documenting the cute and clever things my kids have been saying for years now. And yes, I totally think my four kids say and do the most adorable stuff. I just thought I would have outgrown some of those moments by now, seeing as Amy is almost 24. (!!)But this happened just one week ago. ...
57,000 words
If you've been following my blog, you know that Lucy has been busy writing a novel. The original plan was to write it in 30 days, but when the month of April was over, she still had more story in her.So she kept at it and kept at it. I need to just insert here that I was in Miami all last week and that now I have pneumonia, and there are no ...
Cuban Americans. versions 2.0 and 3.0
Mother's Day at Alina's house. I'll save you the trouble of counting. There are nineteen people in this picture. My big, fat Cuban-American nieces and nephews, and grand-nieces and grand-nephews (phew).The oldest (my mom) in the center, is ninety-three. The youngest on her lap, is three months old.Eleven out of sixteen cousins ranging in ages from ...
Labor Day
Even though she is 93, my mom can still describe, in great detail, (as most mothers probably can) exactly how many hours she labored with each one of us.Serious mom memories.I'll just hit the highlights, but here's what I remember (vividly): Amy - 36 hours (back labor). Adam - 18 hours. Lucy - 17 hours. Jonathan - scheduled ...
Leaving a Legacy
My mom taught me how to cook when I was about 8 years old. She taught me how to read a recipe, measure ingredients, grease a pan, boil water - stuff like that. As I got older, the process became a little more complicated. During the summers, my sisters, Miriam and Alina, and I would take turns cooking. We rotated between table setting, ...
Yes, but can we please see some credentials?
I run a state of the art Bed and Breakfast which is open 24-hours a day, year-round. I also provide these additional services . . . I am: A teacher.A nurse.A psychologist.A seamstress.A caterer.An event coordinator.A laundress.A chauffer.A moneylender. But they just call me . . . "Mom." =DHappy Mother's Day! ...
Right under my nose
Albert hasn't budged in the past 5 years. His brick-face is still intact and just as amazing today as the first time we saw it guarding the Mindstorms exhibit in Legoland. But, look at what has happened here. That is Lucy in 2002 and again just the other day, 2007. (It seems as if the first picture was "just the other day," too.) There ...
Apio Verde
Today is my sister's birthday. Hi, Alina! Happy Birthday! She shares this day with our cousin Ricardo, who still lives in Havana. Sometimes their birthdays coincided with Mother's Day and the frenzy of celebration was mind-boggling. In this picture, Alina and Ricardo get center stage, although being older, he was quick to understand and act ...
