Thanksgiving

Hi Fans, this Thanksgiving it was quiet but there is always things to be grateful for. That you are still on this earth, that the car is still running, the mortgage has been paid this month and that your bones crack a bit but at least you still can get around. Yes I had alot to be thankful for. In the olden days I never really felt worried about who was coming to join us as long as they came to enjoy that we were family & though we saw each other maybe only that day, it was worth it. I'm sure my Mom is glad she no longer has to slave over a hot stove because they (my family in Puerto Rico, were bringing her the food). I too no longer need to make the "fixings" which is okay with me. Even my birthday was very quiet. A few of my friends said I looked especially "radiant" & a got a hug from one. I guess the older you get the less your "birth" means anything. The time will come when the persons who trully remember you will be gone (to a better life) but I stay very optomistic, as I've always been & feel that the people I touch "today" will be there. So fans be sure to do good whenever the opportunity arises & you'll always have them to remember your worth. Be forever thankful too!

Happy Halloween

Well fans it's that time of year again where all the little goblins go "bump" in the night. As a kid it's a fun time to decide what you want to dress up as. I feel they should pick "scary" characters or make up their own, not fairy princesses or super heroes, which have nothing to do with the "spookiness" of the time. Though I wouldn't mind seeing a small GW come to my door, that would be scary. But parents be careful, as always, with those little ones. Make sure they can be seen on the road, check the goodies at home, make sure an adult is with them. I remember my youngest girl has always liked this day. She dressed up as a one armed baseball player, at another as a woman being attacked bt the "birds" (Alfres Hitchcock thriller) and just always invented cool costumes. I always wanted to come over to her parties too because they were fun. I'll never forget the "bobbing" for eyeballs. So, enjoy!

HUH?

Hi Fans, sorry I've been away for awhile but it seemed I couldn't think of anything to write about. Though at times I feel my life's like a "soap opera". Well, today I went to pick up a jeans purse that was "on sale" so I had asked the cashier to save it for me. I parked on the side street near Rainbow. I had to go real close to the car behind me because the person left little space. When I got out of my car I noticed he or she had left alot of space behind their car seeing that there was a meter in front of them for another car namely mine. Anyway, I figured I'd be right out. As I knew, I was out in less than 10 minutes. When I got to my car I noticed the person had gone. So I got in my car & drove to my next errand. But as I stopped at a red light I noticed there was like an ad in the middle of my windshield. I put on my wipers to remove it but this thing wouldn't budge! I had to park & really "full" this sticker off. It was blue with an ad saying: Water Line. The person had also included: Next time don't park so close, Dick!? Excuse me? You were the a--hole that parked wrong & you dare put this on "my" car? Anyway, I won't let that bother me. I only wish I had my "own stickers" for all kinds of fools out there thinking they own the streets. Boy would I have fun sticking my own stickers on their windshields! Have a great Labor Day weekend, fans.

Loved It!!!

Fans, another movie I went to see this week, "The Devil Wears Prada". Let me say, Meryl Streep,looks great. I feel it's a "girl" movie, so gather up your lady friends and go see this movie. My daughter has the book, which I also plan to read, because the book might add things the movie missed. But if you like movies that make you feel good & kind of let you know "all is right with the world"at the end go! Enough said.

Go To The Movies...

Fans, I went to see the "Superman Returns" movie and let me tell you it was all I expected and more! It begins at just the right place and builds up from there. There are funny moments, edge of your seat ones, wishing you were Lois times and just happy feelings. It was cute to hear little kids asking their parents, at certain times, about Superman. There was even a little boy dressed as the super hero, cape and all! I went in expecting a good movie and got a great movie. People applauded at the end, that's all I have to say. I left the theatre glad that Superman is back. Kevin Spacey, I love you! Brandon, you are it!! Everyone in the movie were just fantastic in their roles. Hope to see another one with the new ideas you left the fans of the super hero with.Again, congrats!!!

Sisters....

Fans, there is something "special" about sisters, especially if it's only her & you. They are the other side of "us" that God let us have. See, from the beginning, we share things that no one else could ever share with us, not even our mother. We become true friends because we can tell our sister our inner most secrets. She knows what I'm thinking without talking & at times (alot of times) we answer each other's sentences. When we are the older one, we set examples for our sister to follow, we help her find "her" way, we pave the way so her path will be a bit easier than ours was. If we are the younger one, we look toward our sister to show us the things she's gone through already. We admire her & want her to feel proud of us. That "sister" connection is so important, because though we may drift apart, because of life's occurances our sister is just a phone call away. When we argue, we need to sit and talk our problems or things we are feeling out, really listening to each other (as we did as children) to get that understanding back. After all "life is too short to hold stupid grudges that have pulled us apart". I feel so sad when I hear of two (only sisters) who haven't spoken for years, sometimes for a reason they can no longer even remember. But their "stubborness" has kept them from communicating. Don't let that happen, call her and tell her, sis let's talk just you and me. Don't wait any longer, dear one, patch this up and keep remembering always the good times. God bless you, sis!!!

Heritage...

Back fans,well from the place where I went to school was where my Dad brought his family from Puerto Rico. My grandma & her youngest son, Miguel moved in with us. Then, Dad's brother arrived with his pregnant wife, not by him. They moved into an upstairs apartment and when the one next to them emptied, grandma moved upstairs. Next to us we had my Dad's married sister,Rosa Lydia. While we lived in that building my aunt had her three children. We moved to another street in Hoboken, Willow. My Mom had begun to work at a factory to help my Dad out, also because he had begun to drink and waste his pay check. Mom became good friends with a neighbor and her husband, who also drank. One summer day we decided to go to Coney Island. During the day the men got real drunk. We got into the car,Mom & her friend sitting with us in the back (I remember they made us lay our heads on their laps). Dad was driving with no shirt or shoes, in those days you could get a ticket for that. He was so drunk he got on the curb and knocked down a mailbox. Another driver yelled out,"I've got your plate number". But Dad drove all the way home without being stopped! Left the car in the middle of the street & went up & passed out. Mom had to find someone to park the car for her.From there we got a house on Wayne Street in Jersey City. It was a four family & the yard was great. We even had grapes that grew in the summer. Dad always had a dog & I remember we had brought the one he'd gotten us, Blackie with us. Blackie hated cats & he killed alot of them, when they got into our yard. My Mom also began to bring some of her family. I remember two of my aunts, her sisters, stayed awhile till they began to work & found their own places. Then, we had my uncle, who was going to High School. He would drive us crazy because in music class he chose the violin & he was terrible at it! My sister & I had alot of "good times" in that house. There was a small "house" in the yard we played in, Dad put up a swing and his pool table, in the small shack. We made friends with the girl who lived above us, Debbie. We even had a flood occur once. Everyone feared the building could "blow up" if the water reached the meters! The fire department came to pump out our basement. It was something!!! I believe Mom still has pictures of that time. Well, we had to move from there because the building was going to be torn down to build a High School. Little did I know it was the new Ferris, from where my class would be the first class to graduate from the new high school! I remember we dedicated a tree, in front of the school.Wonder if it's still there? Well, fans,I'll come back again to continue.

Heritage...

I'm back, fans to continue about the lovely, strong woman, that is my mother. Learned she's gaining her strenght slowly, from her quadruple bypass. My sister tells me she fell, the other day because she wants to cook herself. Says she felt dizzy. My sister trys to tell her she needs to take it a step at a time, but how do you keep a "spirited" person, who has always done for herself tied down? When they first came to the US, my father put her in an apartment they had to share with other people. Then, he found her a place, in a bad neighborhood (which they knew nothing about, not knowing the area). Mom had very little space to move around in. One night (Dad worked nights) she saw the shadow of someone outside her door. A friend of the family came over and told my Dad the area wasn't a good place for my mom and two small girls. We moved to Hoboken,across the Hudson, to our own apartment. In those days you had to share a bathroom, which was in the hallway. Our bathtub was in the kitchen, right next to the sink. I liked that you received your morning milk at your door. We lived on the third floor and, in the summer, if you wanted fruits or vegetables, from the vendors, you'd lower a basket & he'd place your order there. Then, you'd raise it & lower the money to him. The whole sidewalks wound be spread clean. Sometimes, the kids, playing wound stay there to get soaked. The ladies, in the neighborhood would watch out for all the young children. The first school I went to, frst grade was cross the side street of where we lived, #9. My very first teacher was Miss Brown. I couldn't be put in kinder because I was too old, seven. The truant officer came to ask my mother why I wasn't yet in school. She just felt I was still small. I went up to third grade there. Well, I'll leave off here. More to come.

My Wonderful Mom

Fans, what can I say about this lovely lady? Well, she's not only my mother, but she's my friend, adviser, my shoulder to cry on and the one who always makes me feel better about everything! Well, I nearly lost this amazing human being. She didn't feel well after Palm Sunday, though she had bought what she'd wear at church Easter Sunday. Once she got to the hospital, with what she thought was the problem she has in her esophagous. It turned out she had suffered a massive heart attack. Four of the arteries were blocked. I flew, with the help of my daughters & their support, the day Mom would have the operation. We arrived at 3 a.m. but went right to the hospital, before she'd be taken to the OR. She,as the stronge woman she is, was making "us" feel calm. We wished her for God to be in that room, guiding the surgeon's hands. The operation took six hours. She was put in the ICU and we were told she'd be "out of it" for the remainer of the day so we'd be better seeing her the next day. So, we went to rest from our long trip. She stayed in the ICU for five days. My girls had to go back to their jobs and I stayed to help with whatever I could. Well, fans, to make a long story short, on the day I was coming back home, she was told she'd be leaving the next day. So, I called her today and she's home enjoying her new great-grand son, Marc Anthony. Faith can move mountains, and it trully can!!!

Heritage...

Well, fans, more of my dear mother's life story. When she was five years old, her skin began to peel right off. She wouldn't feel pain, when she'd just peel away. The doctor my her mom took her to said she should take her home and feed her what she liked, because, in his opinion, she wasn't going to live too long. So, my grandmother, sadly took her home. Well, one morning, she didn't seem to be breathing and my grandparents prepared her. In those days, you'd put the "body" on the kitchen table, placed a candle at each end and watch over it that night. The neighbors came to pay their respects and as night came my mother sat up and said, "I'm hungry". No one knew what brought her back and what had caused the skin coming off. Her parents were just glad she was still with them. Mom became a smoker at the age of thirteen, no thanks to her male siblings. It became very bad, in her thirties and in her late sixties, she felt it was over-powering her health. She and I'm very proud to say it, quit all on her own. I'm sure it wasn't easy but she did it! It's weird to me how though there was always cigarette smoke around my sister and myself, we never became smokers. Fans, I need to come back to this. To be continued.

Heritage...

Fans, I will continue about my parents. My mother has had a hard life, especially in her childhood. She was one of the oldest daughters,she has one sister, four years older. Well, out of the eight remaining children, for whatever reason, she was the only one who never attended school. She was sent to work in the tobbacco fields, at the age of 8. The fifty cents a day she got was collected by her father. When he saw that it could bring him problems, he took her to a house to serve as a maid. There she had to wash clothes,dishes, iron care for the pets (two dogs) and in the room, for the dogs, she slept in a cot. In this house she dislocated her arm, yet with her arm in a sling, she still had to do her work. From there, she was taken to a house where the only daughter of the lady, was getting married. She liked my mother and one night even put her wedding dress on her (which my mom took as a bad omen) to show her how pretty she looked. She was sad to leave this house but she was sent to another and by then she was fifteen. In this home the husband didn't work and he tried to "force" himself on mom. Luckily, the lady came home to get some paperwork she'd forgotten. My mother always wore "hand-me-downs" from my grandmother. When she was small she once received a glass doll and was so thrilled, she ran to show it to her sisters and fell. Yes, it broke into little pieces. She'd receive, most of the times for the Holidays, ribbon (to put in her hair) or yards of fabric (to have her mother sew a dress for her) but these were rare occations. That's the reason why, when she met my dad, she thought he'd take her to a better way of living. Yet, he took her to live at his mother's house, till both my sister and I were born. When my sister was eight months old and I was sixteen months, my parents came to New York City to stay with relatives,in search of the "American Dream".

Dancing With The Stars

Need I say anything about Drew and Cheryl, if you, fans, watched the show tonight? They were, no doubt the best! I like Jerry Rice and "la Stacy" was good but why didn't she and her partner (knowing this is the showdown) do such a "lame" dance at the end? So, fans, I need to see the "true" winners of this competition, and we all know it was Drew & Cheryl. They gave their all and deserve to get the trophy. Thanks to them for a real exciting time on t.v. I'd also like to congradulate the other dancer, celebraties who participated and gave their all. None of you were professional dancers yet you did your best. It's painstaking and difficult to learn all the moves, lifts and technics involved in the different dances. My hat is off to all of you! But may the "best man" (Drew) win".

Divorce

Fans, I decided to write about this subject cause I've been through alot, after mine. I'd like to tell the women going through one or on the verge of one that the saying (whoever said it ), "there is light at the end of the tunnel," was totally right. It's not easy because you are thrusted into something you thought would never happen. You're hurt, you wonder was it your fault, you feel empty, unloved, confused. In the beginning, of mine, when me left the house and said he needed time "to think." I couldn't stay in my home, I'd just would walk all day. See it was a marriage of thirty-two years, where I thought we'd grow old together and our only problems would be with our Florida home repairs, as time went by. But life has ways of showing us that we could do better and live "fuller" lives than the one we were living. I learned that I was stronger than I thought. I learned to drive, which was something I swore I'd never do. I've met wonderful people, some not so wonderful but life does go on and we learn from our mistakes. Good luck to all of you and remember you will come out of this better than you were.

Heritage

Hi fans, I decided to write about where I came from. My mother was born one of thirteen children, of which only eight survived. Some died at childbirth, back in the countryside, in Puerto Rico. Others died of illnesses, perhaps not known in those days, how to cure. My mother was born right after a sister, age 3, had died and my grandfather named her the same name as the one they had lost ( except mom didn't get her middle name). In future years, my mom learned she had been celebrating her birthday, October 30, yet her actual birthday was the 19th of October. Seems the sibling before her was also an October baby. But the family continue to celebrate the 30th. Today, they are all still around. My mom's oldest sister and two brothers live in Puerto Rico. My favorite uncle lives now in Toms River. Two aunts live in Hoboken and the last uncle lives in Florida. My mom and dad met on a ranch my grandfather was tending and my dad came to work there. They eloped, once my mom found she was expecting, me. I even got to go to Mayaguez, town I was born in, to see a place they once lived. It was weird cause only the cement floor was there. Anyway, fans, this is to be continued.

Winter Wonderland

Wow, fans, as I woke this morning I was surprised of the lovely scene before my eyes. I knew it would come sooner or later. We should be happy it came, on a Sunday, when we can enjoy it for a day. Because, dear fans, you and I know we'll need to go dig out our car, as soon as it stops snowing! Also, like many of you lucky souls who have jobs, tomorrow you'll need to get to your work place. Either by train, bus, car or on foot you will be off. So, enjoy the day, curl up with your favorite book, your loved one or your favorite movie. Tomorrow, bundle up and my the Force be with you!

Careful

Hey Fans, had a scary moment this past week. My neighbor knocked on my door, around 3:30 p.m. and asked if I smelled smoke. Well, yes, since the hall was smokey! Went down to see that it was coming from our other neighbor's apartment. Seems he left something on the stove and went off. Our landlord had been called ,so he opened up the place and aired out the smoke. Fans, go check out your smoke alarm's battery ( I had forgotten to change mine) and be careful what you leave on the stove. Remember there are other people living around you, with little ones and sometimes, even pets. Let's be more aware. I can't help noticing that we all, at one time or another, live with our heads "in the clouds". Or as though we're the "only" people in our planet. Let's promise ourselves to be more alert, if not for our sake, then for others.

Valentine's Day

Hi Fans: Well, it's almost that time again, guys!!! Listen up, be spontaneous and romantic with your gifts to your sweetheart. Don't go out and get the boring flowers and candy. Get something that will really make your love think, "gee, he really is thinking of me". Okay, so you have no idea what I'm talking about. Go get some rose pedals, at your nearby florist, to put in the bath you'll have for her. Or to sprinkle over the bed that special night. Get a nice bottle of her favorite wine. Have the table set with a romantic dinner(you can order at her favorite place) if you can't cook it yourself.Buy her something "sexy" to wear for you both that night. And even if you guys have been married for the longest, whisper the "sweet words" you once said to her to make her fall in love with you. Here's wishing everyone "LOVE" on February14.

Fans, my sister's new grandbaby's adorable, but I guess all babies are. Her name's Daniela cause that's her father's middle name (Daniel). My sister calls her "chubby cheeks" cause she's got them. My mother is planning to sit, with her til she gets alittle bigger. Right now she needs "tender loving care." Thought I'd show her off to my fans. Her step-sister is a bit jealous , she's four years old and, as all siblings, doesn't like the attention the baby gets. The family is trying to make her understand she also is loved. Gee, babies bring alot of joy to a family and we're glad to see these little beings in ours.

Back From Vacation

Hi Fans! I had a great time, with the family in Puerto Rico. While there, they took me to a "paranda". A "paranda" is a group of people that serenade the family you are visiting. Then, they let you in to their home and give you food and drinks. In the "parandas" of old, you'd then continue, on your way to the next "paranda" which is another home and on and on til daylight. Nowadays, you just visit one home and afterwards you return to your own home. It was fun cause I hadn't been to one since I was a teen. It's nice to see and participate in your traditions. People should try and conserve these traditions cause if not they are lost forever and won't be enjoyed by our future generations. Now go out there this year, hide some Easter eggs, carve your pumpkins, and for God's sake do some caroling!!!