L to R: Me, Miriam, Ofie, Alina, & Helen. These are the women with whom I have shared rooms, clothes, makeup, and secrets.They are all who I wanted to be when I grew up. In this configuration, no matter how old I get, I will always be The Baby. (sigh) ...
meet the family
Fashion Icon
August, 1960. Varadero Beach in Cuba. My beautiful sister, Miriam. According to the stamp on the back of the photo, it was just a few days after her birthday in 1960.She was so proud to be photographed on the beach in her gorgeous new Catalina Swimsuit - "Styled for the Stars of Hollywood." Catalina was the brand that supplied ...
Eight is great. (yes, I can rhyme!)
She was born in 2000 on this date.I remember being in an emotional state.(I don't know if you can relate.) She's my Grand-niece, which makes me, not just her Aunt, but her Great. Being half-Cuban is her happy fate.(I'm a little alarmed by her growth-rate.) Her name is Daisy - let's just get that straight. She's not two, ...
Helen…. Wheels?
My sister, Helen, has a daughter, whom she named... Helen. I know. It was a totally Cuban thing to name children after their parents back in the day, but that's not important right now. Technically, she named her Helen del Carmen.So in order to differentiate between them, the family thing has been to call the younger Helen by her full name: ...
Yo Ho, Yo Ho….
(Indulge me here while I delight in my grand-nephew, Ben, who is three years old today.) And like most three year old boys he's got his ..... umm....... opinion about things. Take Disneyland for example. If you're a three year old boy and you're going to Disneyland, you must dress up.Preferably like a Pirate. Your costume should ...
I’m a poet and I don’t even. . . oh wait. . .
My adorable niece, Katie, is 22 today. That means I will go out on a creative limb for her and write a haiku poem. Okay. I don't routinely go around writing haikus, (Well, I confess, sometimes I think of them, but I don't routinely write them down, but that's not important right now.) Katie and I have this tradition: I write a lovely, ...
Driving Miss Daisy
Blogosphere, meet Miss Daisy.Miss Daisy, meet the Blogosphere. She is the first of my mom's seven great-grands. I am her GREAT aunt. (goes without saying) Besides being OBVIOUSLY adorable with a great sense of humor, she is smart as a whip. In fact, I'll bet you would be hard pressed to know as much stuff as she does. 1) She can easily name the ...
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 ...
A Birthday Haiku
Stuff you learn when you homeschool your kids (that you probably should have learned in high school or college, but were too busy sleeping or pretending to take notes). For the uninformed: The 300 year old Haiku Poem has it's own discipline. Each complete poem has only 3 lines totalling 17 syllables.The first line must be 5 syllables. The second ...
A “Shout Out”
k. so I'm not really comfortable using the term "shout out."I'm kind of culturally irrelevant that way.But she can say it. And it doesn't even sound weird when she does.She's hip and funny that way.Meet my niece, Kelley, who is 24 today.And I just think she's amazing. But she knows that. She is the one who calls me "Auntie ...
