She was a cute little skinny kid with wide brown eyes and long dark brown hair; always inquisitive and full of herself.  She was already bi-lingual by the age of two; Spanish was her folks dominant language and  she managed to become fluent in English too.  They lived in a predominately Spanish-speaking neighborhood in the city because it would've been difficult to find lodgings elsewhere.  In other words, they were different and other people tried to "keep them" in their place.  That was a…

She was sitting in the middle of the deli while the lunch crowd paraded by, staring into space, her face speaking "a thousand words" and I could hear them; "I am worried, I am sad, I don't know what to do", and on and on.  I had been observing her from afar and could feel something wasn't right, as she sat with her face leaning on the palm of her right arm while she was still surrounded by the lunch dishes that had not yet been cleared from the table.  All the while my heart is thumping at…

Even though the neighborhood has changed, folks have moved on and the new arrivals have settled in, there is a feeling of excitement; there's something in the air.  We're playing Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad" and the aginaldo's (the original country Christmas music from Puerto Rico) that so enrich our spirit and senses.  Families and friends are gathering in an atmosphere of joy, love, and remembering how it use to be back on the island; La Isla Del Encanto.  It's time for arroz con…

It's a lovely morning, hot and dry outside, but so comfortable inside with the air conditioner purring away.  She is grateful for another day and begins to stir herself up, as thoughts begin to flow in and out.  She catches a glimpse of a young mother and child, through the window, as they walk by the house hand in hand.  Thoughts of her mother begin to stir; she thinks to herself "I remember walking hand in hand with my mom" and the great conversations we had when I was a little girl.  Oh…

It was a beautiful California morning and we were settling in for another cup of coffee and small conversation.  TV was silent, not yet time to turn it on.  The phone rang, it was my daughter calling from San Antonio, Texas, and she asked if I had the TV on; I said no - why?  She then began to tell me what she had seen and heard, and I ran over to the TV afraid to see what  had happened.  I was already sobbing and crying with such anguish that I could not control and could not believe the…

She was thinking and, while she was thinking, she suddently began to feel this sense of emotion and  stirring going on deep inside of her.  She wasn't sure why and what was happening .  She had been searching and looking to recapture the God of her youth - the God she loved and grew up with.  Suddenly, it all started coming back to her; St Anselms on Union Ave, the nuns and priests, Catechism classes, answered prayers, help when daddy died.  He was always there, even when she wasn't aware of…

There she was, a young wife with three children and a husband who was serving in the Air Force; they enjoyed being a military family.  One lovely sunny day at California's Vandenburg AFB, the husband came home with the unexpected news that they would be reassigned to Anderson AFB, Guam.  They didn't know whether to be excited or nervous; there was a lot of activity out there in support of the Vietnam War.  When they arrived on Guam, they witnessed history being created by seeing and hearing…

Thinking to myself, as I ponder over the events of the past few months, my world was upside down or so I thought.  I was shaken and very vulnerable; all kinds of things were coming at me - health, relationships, family.    Then as I picked myself up, straightened myself out, and remembered who I am, and whose I am, my strength returned with a vengence.  How you handle trials determines the outcome - victories or setbacks.  My course had been set, things were looking up and I wasn't looking…

As he lay on his hospital bed, being pumped full of all kinds of medications and in agonizing pain, I wanted to change places with him; I didn't want him to suffer.  There seemed to be a rhythm to the dripping that was taking place in the tubes attached to his arm and I began counting the drops, as my mind wandered away; waiting for the doctor.  I watched his grimaces, the furrow on his brow, his clenched lips and his beautiful white curly hair.  He was still the cute guy I fell in love…

They were referred to as "Them" and the "Them" referred to the others as "They".  There was no trust between the "Them" and the "They"; there was a hostility that lay underneath all of the body language and verbage.  The "They" belonged, but the "Them" were recent arrivals and not welcomed.  They both spoke a different language, but the "They" outnumbered the "Them"; the "Them" and the "They" were needed to establish the nation whose shore was beckoning to the many who were looking for…