Third Act- Bring it On…

I have been waiting a lifetime and here you are.
You thought you were going to see me shrivel up in a corner
You thought you would hold me back from my dreams
You thought you would weaken me during the hardest moments of my life
You thought you would humor me with your touch and go balancing act between life and
death
Well…you thought wrong
I will tell you what I’m going to do
I am going to hold on with all my being
Do the things I put aside because I had duties to fulfill
I am going to learn to dance again
I am going to put that cello between my legs and learn to play
I am going to look in the mirror and appreciate every wrinkle and white hair I have earned.

So Third Act –Bring it on!

Brooklyn Fades Into An Unwelcome Memory

I was looking forward to seeing my aunty again. Touch down at JFK. It has been four years since I saw her last. This time when we got to the hotel, I was forced to look up. Skyscrapers in Brooklyn? I never dreamed it would happen. But there you are, it did.

Downtown Brooklyn

My aunty’s building was nestled between the tall buildings, but she did not feel it as much As I did. She did not go out. It was difficult for her to get around. Maybe it was for the best anyway.

She would be overwhelmed…

I remember when Abuelita died…

I was in bed. We had just watched the Ed Sullivan show. The phone rang. I heard my father say we would be right over. Quickly we dressed and walked down to my grandmother’s flat. My aunties opened the door, and we walked down the long hallway and onto where my grandmother laid motionless. It was the first time I saw my father sobbing, and the first time I felt numb. I could not cry. I just sat in her rocking chair and rocked. It was only until my aunty told me to go to one of the bedrooms with my mother that I was able to understand. The door was partially closed when I heard men coming into the apartment and took my grandmother away. I recall seeing a heavy plastic bag being carried away. I did not cry that night. Two weeks later, I was laying in my bed, and my tears flowed. My abuelita was gone, who is going to love me as much as she did? Who can I dance for now and make her laugh? I had watched the Ed Sullivan show that night….

Catching the moment…

Dizzy… I’m so dizzy

I hate when in the middle of a sentence…I forget what I wanted to say. I have been told it happens to everyone, but I still worry. I don’t want to forget my memories or my now’s. I want to remember it all, no matter how it may hurt. So….. hmmmm

The soothing sea

The crashing waves catches me unawares sometimes…the thrill of the sea and the calmness it puts into my thought and body’s soul. Often I walk to the water’s edge and hope I can see and hear the crashing of the waves. I sit for hours and watch the ebb and flows…. Now that is life as I know it…peaceful and volatile at times…

Stillness…

Building stories out of random photos is not a bad exercise in creating a unique story out of different photographs. Makes you think…makes your brain work hard or not. Either way it’s a lesson in creating something new out of a few images..

My Room, my place to feel safe

The years have gone by and I find comfort in my room. My room was my haven when I was growing up in the South Bronx on Wilkins Avenue. I daydreamed about visiting far away places hoping to sit and talk with the locals about their wants, fears, and dreams. Hoping that someday I would also sit in a café and write my own Moveable Feasts. In my mind I always knew I would return to my room, where the joys of remembrance would be with me always to invigorate my soul and think of my next adventure. But as I am a woman of a certain age, the time to do all these things is dwindling and I am grasping for more time to get as much done as possible.

Another City, Another Chapter

In a few days another page is set to turn. Am I ready for this new chapter? I think so. After all I will turn 70 in several months, eleven months to be exact. Nevertheless, frightening as it may seem, I am ready to take the plunge again, silly girl. Except this time I will have someone with me on this journey called life.

via A Boricua’s Remembrances

via Ageism Happens…

via Mi Querida Mama…