Scenes from Mother's Day with...MY....BIG.... FAT.... CUBAN.... FAMILY.... On days like today, I consider myself so incredibly blessed that these are the people that have been given to me to love.... What a gift. ...
Mother's Day
The Good Mother
Like every other mother I know and like all those emails that get passed around this time of year, I've done my share.I have wiped my share of runny noses.And changed innumerable diapers.I have had the amazing experience of feeding a hungry baby and rocking them to sleep.I have attended hundreds of rehearsals, productions, and plays.I have starved ...
A Red Carnation
Luza, my mom. She was twenty-five when she got married. She was twenty-six when she became a mother. She was forty-one when she gave birth to me, the youngest of her six children. She was forty-seven when she found herself exiled in a new and foreign country. She was fifty when she became a grandmother. She was eighty-five when she ...
Mi casa es su casa
I loved playing house when I was a little girl. I know that's really politically incorrect for little girls now, but I grew up rocking baby dolls and setting my kid-size table. Being a little Cuban girl, I was groomed for homemaking, but really, I am hard-wired that way anyway. When Eric and I got married, we spent our wedding night at the ...
Making a Man
This is a page out of a scrapbook I made for Adam. (the entire album is in the column on the left - titled: Adam's ABC Book) It tells the story of The Splinter. Here's how it goes: Adam played lacrosse in the 8th grade. Lacrosse is like ice hockey but without the ice and much more violent. In other words, a blood sport. =( After his very first ...
Party people
We celebrated Ben's birthday with a pool party yesterday. It was a beautiful day and great fun and I can't believe I forgot my camera. =( But here are a few of the cousins at the "after party." Where was this "after party?" Well ... the girls are sitting at the foot of their grandmother's bed...in the hospital.(everything ...
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world . . .”
There were only about a dozen or so houses in the tiny port town of Manatí, Cuba in the early 1930's. This one held a family with the last name Perez-Puelles. The father of this household was the customs official of that little town. He was my grandfather. The few residents of the town were all connected because of their service in the shipyards. ...
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." =D Happy Mother's Day! ...
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 ...
Salvador y Coca-Cola
This was how we celebrated birthdays back in Cuba. These are my sisters and me at different ages. (If you're really curious, just count the candles on the cakes) There was always a big, beautiful, almost-too-perfect cake from a fabulous bakery.We always got a fancy new dress (think linen, satin, ruffles). By the time I turned four (in the last ...
I’m Luz’s Daughter
Today my mom turns 93. Last year we thought it would be fun to throw her a surprise party. When she came through the door and we yelled "Sorpresa!" we had a moment where it occurred to us it might not have been such a great idea to surprise the 92 year old like this. LOL But she loved it and immediately rose to the ...
Stopping once in a while
I know I spend a lot of time on my computer, but every now and then I force myself to just stop and look around.I have a spot, too.It's in the corner of our bedroom.And there I am surrounded by things I love. The coverlet was crocheted by my great aunt in the 1920's.The brown wooden box on the high shelf was my Cuban grandmother's sewing box.The ...
