Uncle’s Birthday Party

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In January I blogged about Stacy’s 99 year old Grandma, Mi Abuela Ana. Stacy and I thought about actives we could do with Abuela Ana to keep her mind busy. Most of them revolved around Stacy’s family. Her grandma’s children.

When her uncle’s birthday came around, Stacy invited me over.

Abuela Ana was sitting on the couch. Above her on the wall, there was a vintage photo. It was a picture of her and her late husband taken at photography studio. It seemed to be their wedding photo. The picture was striking because of her dress. It was long and modest. She saw me looking at it and through translation told me that it was a pink dress. But I don’t remember her saying anything else about the picture. As a matter of fact, I don’t remember her showing much emotion about the photo.

 

 

 

Mi Abuela Ana

My close friend Stacy shared with me that her Grandma who was born November 16, 1918 gets lonely sometimes. Stacy and I always go out but this time, I asked her if we could spend time with Abuela Ana.

It turns out everyone liked the idea! Especially Abuela Ana.

It did not cross my mind that there would probably be a language barrier.

With the little bit of Spanish that I knew, I founded out that she came to America in 1973 and when she got here she never really ventured into the real world. She was a stay at home mother. She had 10 children before she came here and her baby (Ms. Hilda, pictured) was only in her teens. No one was born in the U.S.

She likes to cook but doesn’t do much of it anymore.

She arrived to America because of her son, Uncle Metro (also pictured) got here first and paved the way for the rest of the family. When she came to America she did not like it. As a matter of fact, she always wanted to go back home to live but stayed here to tend to her family. She sacrificed her life so that her children and husband could live happily.

Her husband passed away in 2009.  He was a hard working man. Running bodegas to keep the family afloat.

Ms. Hilda cooked a lovely meal for the event and Johnny, the dog was very respectful until we got to the table.

I left full and happy. Now time to brush up on my Spanish.

Living through Powerful Words

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Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the ‘I have a Dream Speech’, one of the most popular speeches throughout the world today delivered by someone who was never elected as a public official or a leader of a country, someone who was just like me, a common person, someone who dedicated their life to speaking out against injustice and putting himself in harm’s way for others. Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired and continues to inspire millions through his words. He is dead but even in death he remains alive.

I am not on Facebook anymore, but when I was on Facebook, I posted one of s my favorite quotes by Dr. King with a picture of my friend, Stacy and myself.

It reads:

“We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers [nor sisters].  Our abundance has not brought us neither peace of mind nor serenity of the spirit”.