I will be the mama cat in a week (in addition to being a hotelier for three live-in cats). Sons, daughters-in-law, grand girls, grand boys, grandpa.
Read moreSoy/Somos: Americana/Dominicana
Carmelish Carrasco after graduating with a Master’s in Social Work.
During Covid, not seeing my family, I felt a sense of isolation. I lost my grandmother in Florida during Covid. This grandmother, my dad's mother, lived in Providence when I was 7 or 8. She was bougie in what she wore. Coach from head to toe. "Don't bother to learn to cook," she'd tell me. "Study and you'll be just fine. Do new things."
Read moreSoy/Somos - Young Latina Attorney - Representation Matters
She rephrased what I’d said: “You left your home where you were living rent free to live in a guy’s apartment you found on Craig’s List to make some changes in your community….”
I was speechless. That did sound kind of badass….
Read moreAugust - “What Do You Want to Say?”
A slow moment at a cafe in Ogunquit, Maine.
There's a writers' guru named Dan Blank who asks writers to answer, "What do you want to say?"
It's mid-August, and I want to keep these thoughts at bay. I want to hold on to sitting with friends in the shade... smacking my arm after the mosquito's left... The streets are empty. I'm feeling slightly aimless (which is good). But here it is. Here is what I've been doing and believing for the last many years:
Read moreDecency and the Flag
At dinnertime on Tuesday—like many of you—I watched a last-minute hearing of the Jan. 6 House Committee.
Read moreSoy/Somos: Carlos Carrasco - Coming Home
Carlos Carrasco, Actor, Director, Producer. Photo courtesy of Rochelle Newman-Carrasco
Carlos Carrasco was born in Panama—as I was—and came to the United States on an acting scholarship. He honed his craft as a classical actor only to discover that in the real world of movies a big and dark Latino would be handed the roles of drug runner and thug.
Read moreSoy/Somos: Elizabeth Lara - Culture and Identity
Elizabeth Lara, Poet. Photograph by Juan Armando Rojas.
Elizabeth spoke to me of grief and a sense of loss. “I had to find a way to hold on to the original me.”
I’d traveled in Europe by myself after college, unfazed by what might make others hesitate. A summer in France introduced me to being a foreigner, how to sink or swim in a society that was not mine. I had no reservations about moving to another country, but I was afraid of marriage. Erasmo talked me into it.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Photo by Stephanie Greene on Unsplash
Elizabeth Lara told me how she was struck by a coup de foudre, French for bolt of lighting, when she saw Erasmo, across the room at a party in DC many years ago. Two years later she moved to the Dominican Republic to share his life. Liz had to learn to live a la Dominicana, a straight talking American girl from Illinois.
Read moreAnother January
Photo by Angele Camp on Unsplash
Please forgive me while I clear my throat…
petulant petals pity party
Are we in purgatory?
I met with my besties on Zoom yesterday. Friends of many years, some living at significant distances. They’re listless, unfocused, cranky. Our world has shrunk again. O M I C R O N. It sounds like the plague.
Read moreSoy/Somos: Puertoriqueña - What is One Hundred Years?
Betsy Cordero as Madrina de honor at best friend’s wedding in 1949.
My sister had everything for me. We were only two in our family, and she adored me. She wanted me to be entertained all the time. I arrived in New York on Friday. By Monday I was working as secretary at an electronics company.
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