Description of someone....can you guess?

[Suki]

You have slender feet. With toes that curl delicately. You are five feet and five inches tall. Your skin is light. Very light skinned, but tans so easily a rich golden color without ever getting red first. You have a pointy chin and a fairly prominent nose. Your hair is thick and white, or gray and straight and abundant, full of body. You have facial hair, and a thick mustache. Your hands are big. With thick fingers, and blunt nails. Your teeth are white and straight and you eat everything with relish. Your eyes are fairly large and liquid and the deepest coffee brown one can think of. Your eyebrows are a bit hairy and need some trimming. Your skin is so clear and smooth. It should belong to a woman but it doesn't. Your voice is full of inflection and playfulness, medium in tone and also peppered with arresting phrases....and turns of language. Your gait is purposeful and quick. And your scent is slightly tangy and always has a pleasant honest fragrance to it. Either of soap or of deodorant. Your eyeglasses are thick and often wiped clean of smudges. And you make me laugh so much. Always. Such a young spirit and so full of laughter and optimism.

Vida.

[Suki]

Yes, that was a description of my father. David. I like thinking about him. It comforts me to think of him. I was looking at some scrapbooks and things....to see if I could put together something personal to give to my daughter or son. So they know who their grandparents are....who they were. My husband has an altar of his mother, done by an artist friend of my father's. It has some lovely small black and white old photos of her life...and some small inexpensive costume jewelry, and other little things she did in life. Like knitting doilies and her wedding, and her favorite movies and so on. It has a wooden Caribbean style house in the background of the altar like piece.....it brings my husband such comfort. He remembers her well when he looks at it. I am thinking of doing something similar...for my father. So I can tell my child who he was and he can have a great idea of who he was by reading all I know and can write about him. I don't know....I think I got a lot from speaking about and knowing who my ancestors were, with my father. And it might make it easier for the child to speak about their own sense of who they are too.

I think Leticia g would like this idea...You know, a friend photographer of ours took photos of my home recently...for the adoption Letty....and of my husband and I too. Together in front of my house. You know one becoming a parent makes you so apprehensive....too. You think of all your personal flaws as a person....how is that going to affect the child? I don't think a single parent has not gone through moments of self-doubt. But looking at the photos I thought. Would I like these people? Would want them as my parents....knowing them well? And I thought, "of course. They got a lot to offer." What a great feeling. I was filled with doubts until I did that. And nothing in this world comes with a guarantee. Life is risk. It is filled with risk. That is why we are independentistas anyway. We believe in ourselves and in our island and in humanity's ability to improve and change.

If you ever read this Letty....you have made me a better person. Preciosa mujer.

Suki.