I’m sitting up in bed, giving up on sleep for a little while longer as it’s currently denying me its comfort. It’s the kind of windy Chicago night that I love; the sound of the wind blowing both ferocious and familiar. Tonight it’s a little different though; I hear wind chimes too. I’m enthralled and […]

Shuffling through my iPod yesterday, trying to create a Christmas music playlist, I saw I had downloaded Tito El Bambino’s Christmas hit, Feliz Navidad.  Cue the Wayne and Garth flashback sound effect here Late Wednesday, October 28, 2009 I arrived in Puerto Rico for what would be almost a year of reconnecting with culture, family, language, […]

Although I spent my teenage years participating in volunteer projects at church and school, the story of how I became a passionate advocate for volunteer work didn’t begin until I was a young adult. In 1995, at the age of 24 my place of employment offered any interested employee the opportunity to spend three hours […]

I popped in the 8-track (did I really say 8-track?),  held a hairbrush up to my mouth, and lost myself in dreams of being a member of La Pandilla. Singing was the only means of expression that didn’t cause anxiety in the shy little girl that I was. I was five and it’s a memory that […]

I was 15 that hot summer. It was the kind of hot Chicago summer that makes its residents start wishing for the Fall and wondering why they ever complained about winter. Stepping outside for just a few minutes could leave you drenched in a pool of sweat. Staying inside was usually a punishment, the results […]

I received my first journal as a gift at the age of 11, just months after my family moved from Chicago to a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. It had a rough, grainy cover and it was red, my favorite color. I named it Scarlett. I don’t remember having an interest in the art […]

I am looking through the journals I kept as a teenager—there are many—and I found the following poem I wrote when I was 17. You Did Care I trusted you once and with that came the pain I should’ve known better than to trust you again. I was blinded by my love for you, I […]

I’m sure to some, forty years seems like a long time. But when you’re the person who’s lived them, you wonder how they passed by so quickly that they were no more than a gust of wind as they flew by you. Most of the moments—good or bad—are a mish-mash of memories that were filled […]

During my early childhood, Christmas was the most amazing time of the year. We lived in Puerto Rico and celebrated from Thanksgiving to El Dia de Los Reyes Magos. It also helped that my mom’s birthday is on Christmas day. From parrandas, to food, to opening presents, to putting a box of grass under our […]

I am a freak about sending Christmas cards. Every year I send over 50 cards to people I don’t keep in touch with on a regular basis, but that I still want to know about, even if only once a year. This year I won’t get to send one card. I am broke and when […]