My Founding Mom Bio

 

Mother and Grandmotherhood. 

I sent out three amazing people into this world: Renie Joie, nurse extraordinaire managing the whole county of Arlington's public health COVID planning and salsa goddess. Avery March, mother of 2 fabulous unique logical and artistic children and teacher fantastique, thoughtfully nurturing new generations of English kindergarteners. Skylr, father of two wild boys, ferocious firefighter and equanimity master. My new daughter Maura, wife to Skylr and loyal, compassionate and determined muse working in ICU for infants.

Anything I do otherwise pales in comparison to my rearing these awesome children, but here it goes.  Among others, these are my prime activities:

Teaching Spanish. 

What started on a kitchen table with six children became a school of over 200 students in the San Francisco Bay Area. Today we are taking the experience and playful approach we used in in-person classes to the online world. We can now share without the geographic borders.

Making Movies. 

It's a new baby! I want to connect with my country, Venezuela, more and more, so my film-director impetuous Italian husband proposed: why don't we make a movie? I took it and ran with it.  We are making THE movie Cambur Pintón.

Making Music. 

I sang in the womb, blob blob blob, since before I took stage into this world.  I have friends, and we play music.  People really appreciate us, and this value turns into money sometimes and others not. : ) 

San Francisco Sees It First

Anoche la premiere de la película de Maurizio, Harvest 2020, estuvo GENIAL!

La comunidad italiana llegó entusiasta y lista.

Nos sirvieron vino, champaña, prosciutto y quesitos.

Antes de comenzar Richard Armanino, distribuidor de productos italianos hizo de MC y nos presentó a las celebridades que se encontraban: gente del consulado, del instituto de la cultura, el CEO del club, el fundador de grupos comunitarios friulanos e inclusive el padre de la parroquia quien nos cantó a capella una bendición.  Súper italiano todo!

Nos deleitamos de una película hermosa.  Llena de bellas imágenes, pausada, super filosófica e interesante. La música en particular, creada originalmente para el film, les llegó a todos muy profundamente.

Durante la proyección, nos sirvieron un risotto de Montaggio y ¡otra copa de vino!

Luego Maurizio improvisó un premio de “dos de sus mejores botellas de vino” a quien acertara con “adivinar” quién era el héroe de la película. 

Como quince personas participaron con bellísimas ideas que pasaron desde el territorio, Friulli, el silencio, las mujeres, la música, el vino, el chofer de la van, Dios, el COVID, etc.  En fín, ¡super ameno!

Patrick, un sommelier y distribuidor de vinos de la zona nos dió su interpretación de los vinos friulanos.  Lucca presidente de la fundación xxx italiana, acerca de la identidad del friulano, el trabajo y el silencio.

Maurizio y yo salimos luego a respirar el aire cálido de anoche por las calles de North Beach y terminamos “la serata” con pizza y cerveza sentados en la acera, viendo a los transeúntes, como para bajarle dos, ja ja ja.  Servidos, ni mas ni menos, por una “camariera venezuelana”

Estoy muy orgullosa del trabajo que Maurizio hizo con las uñas durante el mero mero pico de la pandemia.

Le dedicó su película a su papá quien era de la zona Friuli Venezia Giullia y a su madre que falleció justo en el medio de este proceso.

 

She spoke with such a stoic demeanor about a condition that could potentially cripple her that I was moved to learn more about her.

I' and m not sure what led me to Yohalis's post, but I landed on her video and heard her speak. Listen to her here

The truth is that I don't know her yet, but she is a true warrior.  If you know what it means to be sick in Venezuela- with little to no resources-, you will understand that every hospital worker and patient is a hero.

I spoke to her mom in Venezuela to ask permission and details about helping them. Through a terrible phone connection, she explained all the medical conditions that her daughter has had since age one- too much to mention!

Yohalis keeps steady in her resolve to get better. She loves Tik Tok and wants to be a doctor, something she knows a lot about!

She is at 15 but looks much younger due to her illnesses that include a bone marrow transplant. Her body is rejecting the external metal piece she currently has. She is determined to get her leg working, preventing an immune reaction that would get her sick, and organizing raffles and her own social media campaign to get $380 for a titanium plate. 

I'm going to help her and 

I hope you feel motivated to help her too!

All details are below:

She is being treated at J.M. De Los Rios

Her doctor for this procedure:

Francisco J Machado his diagnosis is this

Instrumental Quirúrgico Venezolano C.A., the company that provides the titanium piece,  promised a discounted price of $380 here.

Then,  she needs the different appointments to be accepted in surgery:

Pneumonology $35

Cardiology $50

Neurology $20

TOTAL $485

GO FUND ME

Didi Twelve on the Twelfth

 She is turning twelve today! 

This gorgeous girl is my granddaughter Edita Marie who lives in Henley-on-Thames in the UK.

This summer, I got to see her after a couple of years of hiatus; among other things like canoeing and snorkeling, we went to an Escape Room twice! We did Merlin’s Wizarding Academy and The Hunted Pirate Shipwreck. Woo hoo!

Didi is how we call her, and she is sharp, curious, loves clues and mathematics. I had a great math teacher in high school whose name is Edita too. Coincidence? Not really. She could have been named Edith, which I didn’t love, but I’d felt good with “Edita,” which evoked a Russian model or a math teacher. Hahaha

Her brother Felix and she have a band and their own YouTube Channel and site: https://www.felixanddidi.com. He sings and plays the guitar, and Didi keeps a mean beat (math again!) 

She is a fantastic climber, but she may have missed a step. She is supposed to be wearing a sling today on her birthday for possibly breaking her shoulder from a fall at the gym bouldering—more X-rays on the way. 

But that didn’t stop her from trying her new Hoverboard (I had to look it up. It’s like an electric skateboard)

Didi has an invite to visit the west coast so let’s see when she will be hopping over the pond!

Happy birthday Didi!