What’s in a sunrise?

     When I was a little girl, I remember loving the ocean even though it was not a place that my family frequented. I’d look forward to the summers where we would drive from California into San Felipe, Mexico, and it would always turn into an ongoing party till the day that we headed back to California.

     I could probably count the times that I went to the beach as a teenager. My dad was very, very old school and the thought of his daughter in a bikini was unheard of. Still, the few times that I went I fell in love with the beach life. Fast track to my honeymoon in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Florida. Imagine my surprise when I heard the pilot welcoming us to Ft. Lauderdale and saying that the water temperature was 81 degrees. I remember laughing and thinking that cannot possibly be true, only to put my feet in that clear, blue, WARM water and falling in love all over again with the sea. That day I knew that South Florida would become my home one day.

     It’s no wonder that the first chance that I had, I made the move from Los Angeles (where the water is freezing, dark, and your body goes numb before you actually enjoy it) to Sunny South Florida. I moved a few blocks from the beach and from that moment on the beach life became a reality to me. My kids grew up on the ocean, playing on the beach, fishing with their dad and drinking coconut water from the actual coconuts in our backyard. It’s a very healthy way to grow up.

     Though I never acquired the home on the beach, I live close enough to enjoy the life that makes my soul rejoice. I can greet the morning by watching the sunrise over the ocean as I walk the boardwalk, and seeing the beautiful sky change colors right before my eyes. For me, that is the perfect way to begin my day. I can also have dinner with fun music playing in the background, people laughing as if they are on vacation as many are, and after dinner enjoy a walk on the sand. The life that I have is a simple one, but make no mistake about it, it’s a full life and the one my heart always longed for. So as the title to this blog reads, What’s in a sunrise? The answer is, everything.

     I leave you now with a little piece of my paradise.

     Peace and love.

  

Can I rest yet? Oh no, on to the next holiday?

Hi Blogger world!

Ever notice how every year we make the same startling statement? “Where did the year go???” I’m right there with ya! Today is December 1st and I’m still in shock. I mean seriously, where did the time go? I clearly remember making a list of changes for my life last January 1st, and though I accomplished some of those things, there is still a long list left. The point is that I could have sworn that i wrote that list a month ago, not almost a year ago.

I’ve had a very nice but extremely busy two weeks. Dinner invites here, Happy Hours there, all while trying to get my work days over AND trying to mute that always, persistent, nagging, knowledge that I have to lose some weight. Normally I wouldn’t sweat it (no pun intended) because I do believe that one must be happy in their own skin and I am, always have been but my daughter’s wedding is coming up in under 6 months and there’s this pretty, sexy, lacy dress that I have my eye on and I promised myself to lose a few but that will be a blog for another day.  For now, there is too much memory making to be hindered by my unwelcomed, nagging friend.

Toasting to a wonderful evening

By now, most are winding down from all of that Thanksgiving eating and that Black Friday shopping. Speaking of that shopping, you could not pay me enough to stand in those lines, push through those crowds, deal with the rudeness of others etc., it’s just not in me. I do know a lot of people who make it an annual event and thoroughly enjoy it so to them, a big High Five. Those of you who are more geeky like me, I’ll toast to our more calming shopping experience like Cyber Monday baby!

I had a nice Thanksgiving with my family. Normally I would be content to stay home but having grown children with their significant others and their families makes for a whole new tradition of laughter, toasting for wonderful futures, and a connection that is needed when you want to maintain that family unit intact.

My Kids 

I don’t have a large family due to the fact that most are in Cuba. Our families were torn apart with the Castro revolution. I consider myself one of the fortunate ones since my parents decided to make the United States of America their home and I was born here. Still, it makes it sad knowing that there are so many family members that I will never get to meet in person or even know about at this point. I wonder who I got my hair from or my personality. Who, in my lineage, has a heart like me or likes different languages as I do. Those are some of the questions that I think about from time to time. I guess that’s why I’ve always felt that family is important and I’ve always kept a photo journal so to speak. Wherever I go, I take my camera with me because there have been so many times that I’d wished we’d had photos of my parents and grandparents but 99% of them don’t exist anymore.  The pictures were left on the island because you could not take them with you. Again, another idea for future blogging.

My Family

This year, our family Thanksgiving grew a bit and it was so nice. My daughters had their boyfriends with them and my middle daughter’s soon to be in-laws, also joined us. There is nothing nicer than having two cultures mesh so well and share our traditions and stories. In our case, we are producing a new generation with American, Cuban, Iranian and Armenian roots. In an environment where there is so much hatred when it comes to the inclusion of other ethnicities, I smile proudly at how well we don’t fit that mold. My kids have always laughed saying, “When everyone is married (they are including me, of course, with high hopes lol) and all the grandchildren are around, our family picture will be a beautiful one made up of all shades and ethnicities.” I cannot wait!

Bianca with Robert, Satti and Arman Taheri

Me with the Significant Others

There were two people missing at our dinner, my father who passed away in 2009 and my grandmother who passed away in 2011, but I know that one day we will all be together again.

As the evening wound down and we were all stuffed from all the good food that we had to choose from, there was conversation about the upcoming holidays and gatherings. I’m sure this evening was one of many to follow. As I walked the room snapping photos, watching my kids having a wonderful time, toasting with family and making future arrangements to scratch off that one bucket list item that I have right on top, I stopped and said quietly, “Thank you Lord for blessing me so much.”

Oh, you want to know what that Bucket List item says?

#1: I will go to Italy for a few weeks, immerse myself in the culture and enjoy it as if it were my last weeks of living.

I hope that you and yours had a lovely, memory filled day as we did.

Love and Peace,

Lisa