Vintage Love

This picture of my parents is on my bulletin board behind my computer, right in my line of sight. It's one of my favorite pictures ever. Yeah, they're blurry and a box of crackers sit in front of them but their smiles are genuine and these are smiles I've seen throughout my whole life. The fact that my sister has it in her house as well, speaks volumes about how it encompasses everything that is wonderful about them as people, as a couple and as parents.

I can't be honest about myself or really become who I want to be without pausing for a moment to think about how much these two people have influenced me. I always say that the only reason that I've been able to do anything in my life, take any of the risks, is because they have so firmly stood in my corner every step of the way.

One of the things that I love so much about my family, and I don't just mean my parents, Yani and Abuela, but my aunts, uncles and cousins (especially my favoritist of all, he knows who he is) is this notion of togetherness; of joining forces. I wrote about it in my poem Where I'm From. It's the subject of my everyday. And it all begins and ends with those two people up there.

I don't give my parents enough credit for the sacrifices they have made for Yani and me. So I guess this is my way of saying thanks for being the wonderfully good-humored, steadfast, loving people, parents, friends you've always been and continue being.

I totally made my mom cry...I know it.

~