Hey, my beautiful Kossacks! You asked for an update on Ana’s resettlement from her home in Puerto Rico to San Antonio. So here’s the fast-paced news of the family’s fabulous progress.
You will all be forgiven for not being familiar with the name Pura Cintron because I never told you her name. But you do know the story of her daughter Ana Cortijo … and whom you met last week when I shared our story of a community crafting her family’s escape from the island’s crises and this administration’s failure to help. My disgust with the paper towel-tossing Mango Madman is precisely why they're here. My motto remains that, while a single person can’t save an island, she and a cobbled-together community of the decent certainly can bond together to save a family! That’s where so many Daily Kos folks came to the rescue.
The result is that Abuela Pura is now repatriated with her daughter and grand-kids! You can see from the giant smiles in the photo above, they are quite happy in their reunion. Since Ana has her Texas driver’s license, I let her drive to the airport to pick up her mama, who was beaming the instant she realized it was her daughter behind the wheel.
Oh, and when gramma saw Tangerine Toddler on my TV one morning, she poked her finger toward him and declared, "Cara aplastada (flat face)," which I'm told was not meant in a complementary manner!
Not to mention, y’all, that Ana’s Texas Voter Registration Card arrived in the mail right alongside mine .. which, I confess I almost signed as my own … heaven forbid! She is waiting with great anticipation for her chance to vote in a United States presidential election! Of course I also preached the electoral gospel that state and local votes are the most critical in our day-to-day lives :D Yup, even gramma has her voter registration applications, including one to vote by mail so she can cast her votes from the comfort of her new home.
Abuela Pura left behind an apartment building in capital city San Juan whose water supply was still augmented by a rooftop cistern and its residents gathered in the lobby to share in the cooking of meals using electricity STILL supplied via generator. Gramma cried profoundly upon leaving behind not just a way of life but her older, 50-something children and their families. She will not be returning to live on the devastated island and she knows her contacts with her extended family will be quite limited in the future.
Ana, after losing her job this past January, was living in an abandoned house in a neighborhood wracked by foreclosures, siphoning off utilities and services just to survive. BEFORE Maria even struck. That is the devastation this and many other families have been facing for some time. Hence, the family’s decision to flee rather than stay and fight to rebuild inside corrupt and inept governments.
Despite this being Texas and its Republicans’ onslaught against it, the safety net has held strong.
Ana (fingers crossed) starts work Jan. 3 and we're working diligently on getting a car in place. We have a couple of leads and if there are mechanics in the area with skillz willing to help, hop on! I’d love to name names in the private support arena but many have asked for anonymity on that side. I will just call you all the Kos Cortijo Coalition. Thank you!!!! Agencies that came on board to help includes many private friends, neighbors and strangers, Red Cross, Salvation Army, San Antonio Housing Authority, Northeast Independent School District PTA, and so many others.
The boys struggle with English in school but are making remarkable success with the kids in the neighborhood. I'd love to be a fly on the wall hearing how that goes down .. yet it does! Abuela Pura speaks only Spanish; so she and I have developed a private language, of sorts, such that we understand each other’s basic thoughts enough to take them in but lack the real ability to converse. I’ve come to learn over years of postings in foreign lands that this can actually develop into a weird, individualized private language.
As I’ve said, the thing that remains on the table is getting a road-worthy car for Ana now that she has a job on tap. If you’re amenable, here’s the PayPal account you can use if you care to chip in to her car fundraiser: closerwalk2@att.net.
In my mean, creepy way, I’ve saved the miracle for last. When the boys first arrived, one of their first wishes was to see snow. I patiently explained that San Antonio doesn’t get snow and launched into some blah, blah, blah of how it’s measured in tenths of an inch when it does. Now, I try to be a good steward of the Earth, so I have NO idea why Mother Nature took it upon herself to make a big ole liar of me — but she did.
By San Antonio standards, we had a blizzard. Okay, we had two inches of snow. But that was quite enough to bring kids and young adults who’d never made a snow man or snow angel into the streets to romp and slide in the slippery sludge. Older folks, forgetting where their “winter” clothing was stored, showed up in jackets, shorts and flip-flops. In the midst of all the delightful chaos were the Cortijo boys … hands chilled into blissful blocks of human flesh.
Back in the day, I introduced myself to this site in a piece entitled No Unringing This Bell
and I’m still working with Progressive candidates. For 2018, my candidate is Mary Angie Garcia for Bexar County District Clerk. We’re paused at the moment as her husband of 42 years, Jesus, a Vietnam veteran passed away last week. She has promised her desire to continue fighting her magnificent fight. Guess I’ll see y’all back on the campaign trail … maybe even with Ana at my side!
Much love!!! Merry Christmas and, again, thank you each and every one for your kindnesses, generosity and help!