My Brazilian-born friend Salvador is now a golf fanatic, though he came here decades ago as a professional soccer player. He’s just sent me photos of himself with his current Vietnamese fiancée. He is 69, she is said to be 44, described as his “one true love.” They plan to marry when her visa comes through. Why do I feel some unease about their upcoming marriage? I sincerely hope my misgivings are unfounded. Perhaps she will truly devote herself to him and to their relationship. They must be communicating now only in English, which certainly is not Sal’s native language and not hers either. He says he’s been waiting for her his whole life. Of course, he was once in love with his first wife—I witnessed that. I had then shown the young couple how to care for and bathe their baby boy. Now Sal says he is estranged from his adult son. But he is looking forward to starting out over once again with this new lady.
I asked: She speaks English? How did she learn? English is not your native language or hers either, but you 2 must communicate in English. You said she is a virgin, so she would not have any children. I wonder what has happened to your son whom I saw as a baby when I helped your first wife and you learn how to bathe him? Now you are starting a whole new life at age 69!
In my limited scope of observation,
many Asian women are socialized to defer to and support the men in their lives,
so maybe things will work out for Salvador with this new Vietnamese lady. Sal
deserves happiness, don’t we all?
Former fellow Peace Corps Honduras volunteer Jenn, living with her family in Vanuatu in the south Pacific, now tells me: “Vanuatu has made headlines on various climate justice proposals...We are small but mighty :)I haven't been directly involved at all, but it is great to see. Climate change is impacting Vanuatu in very real and scary ways, especially during the cyclone season as the storms are getting stronger and more frequent by the year.”
February is Black History Month, so I now salute my family members who identify as black or biracial. They don’t seem overly concerned about racial identity most of the time, but right now, in the month of Feb., they are proudly emphasizing the black aspects of their racial identity. I am blessed to have a multi-racial, multi-ethnic family, with Caucasian, Asian, Indigenous, and African American heritage. I know of no other family quite like mine in that respect.
Reported on NextDoor: Police hit pedestrian crossing 8th & A SE. Fortunately, she was not hurt. But that is too close for comfort for me, a frequent pedestrian living near that intersection.
A million American lives have been calculated to have been lost to gun violence over the last 30 years, lives cut short because of the so-called “right to bear arms.”
Amnesty International USA, 'Hands off Africa,' Pope Francis tells rich world The Pope sees Africa as fertile ground for the growth
of the Catholic church. Francis’ Africa tour included South Sudan, a country where
I spent a month making a humanitarian investigation before independence.
Back then, the future independent nation of South Sudan had achieved just a
subsistence level of development and apparently has not progressed much since.
Wash. Post, Pushing for peace in South Sudan, Pope Francis visits nation in shambles
Fox, Catholic civil rights group asks for House GOP probe
into pro-abortion extremist group Jane's Revenge
The president of the nation’s largest Catholic
civil rights organization
sent a letter to [Jim Jordan] the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee
Monday "requesting an investigation of those responsible for attacks on
churches, pro-life activists and crisis pregnancy centers, with a focus on
Jane’s Revenge."
[Now 2 “Jane’s Revenge” pro-abortion vandals have been indicted
by the Justice Dept.]
Comparing my own experiences to those of friends, associates, and even members
of my own family, now as my 85th birthday approaches, I must admit to having led a rather amazing and adventuresome life. My life included
24 years of being married to an ambitious man who was blind and Asian. I’ve also endured
tragedies unlike those of other women (or men) I’ve known all over the world. Only my daughter Stephanie, also an adventurer living now with her husband
in Hawaii, even comes close to my own around-the-world explorations. I’ve had
missions in more than 45 countries, usually going there for humanitarian reasons and experiencing many dangers, but I was never afraid. Some details of my life have been chronicled
in my 2 books, Triumph & Hope: Golden Years with the Peace Corps in
Honduras, and Confessions of Secret Latina: How I Fell Out of Love
with Castro & In Love with the Cuban People.
To end up today, let's see some more Capitol Hill pets, both lost and found.
This yellow parakeet was lost but has been found.
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