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A Special Gift request
by: Midge Pellicier
December 2006
Last month, as I reminisced about the commotion "en el pueblo"
due to the anticipation of the holidays, little did I know that soon,
I would be witnessing it!
I am in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico , as I write; watching a "colibrí"
(hummingbird) that visits my mother's yard everyday.
"Las Navidades" are here! The neighbors have their radios blasting
with "aguinaldos" and are already making plans for the many
gatherings for friends and family. When you are in Puerto Rico ... you
can almost smell the holidays!
Unlike many towns, "La Plaza de Recreo" in Cabo Rojo is filled
with people day and night.The Acoustic Conch already displays Chritsmas
motives and the fact that there are a couple of "Kioskos" in
"La Plaza", that serve coffee and refreshments and every "dulce
típico" you can imagine, (such as: dulce de coco, mampostiales,
dulce de leche, batata, cucas, ajonjolí, paletas de gallinitas
rojas, etc.), completes the experience.The children run around the artistic
fountain and round about the gigantic catholic church that quietly awaits
the soon-to-come Chritsmas masses and ceremonies. The light poles on the
main roads are adorned by flagettes of the Three Kings; that really touched
my heart, since so very few in the states celebrate the Kings like we
do in the Caribbean. Deep inside I felt the excitement I must have felt
as a child at the sight of the eagerly awaited Kings.
Just the other day , I visited some friends and helped set up the Christmas
tree as Don Tito played the guitar and I sang without stopping the chore
at hand and delighting sweet Dilia, who sat on her chair with a huge smile,
enjoying the moment with all her heart and soul, something the stroke
she suffered many years ago, left unscathed.
December happens to be my favorite month of the year; two of my three
children, as well as I, were born on December; the holiday celebrations
are the icing on the cake, which by the way and as you could imagine,
we eat plenty of during this month!
This year, there is a special and valuable gift my entire family and I
wish to receive, the full recovery of my sister Mickey and that of my
mother, Sarah. You see, I had been planning a trip to Puerto Rico during
the entire year to no avail until finally, I had the opportunity to come
for just one week in early November. Upon arrival and in less than a week,
both my sister and my mother received an emergency surgery. The latter
being a triple bypass surgery. My mother has been in intensive care ever
since, being challenged by a series of complications that have shown me
how strong I am -I'm still standing after seeing my mom the way I've seen
her!- and how this trip has become a life-changing event for me. There
have been people that have spoken to me about "the great coincidence";
that both of them got ill while I was in the island. Others, as well as
myself, understand and choose to think that there is no such thing as
coincidence. There is a plan that becomes unraveled little by little at
its divine moment. All happens for a purpose greater than we can understand,
nothing material matters when a loved one is at the edge of the precipice.
Prior to my arrival, I spoke about my scheduling and how I needed to plan
my days efficiently so that I could do as much as I could in the little
time I had. Now, having been in the island for weeks, I have not even
touched the ocean water in Boquerón, my favorite place in the entire
planet! Everything takes a back seat! I could, however, tell you about
everything they sell over at the hospital's cafeteria and gift shop. My
mother, although with a physical disability, had never seemed so fragile.
It is almost paradoxical to see her gasping for air behind the mask in
the special oxygen machine, when typically she is like a busy bee and
her drive and enthusiasm are contagious!
As I continue with the many errands I have to run, walking around my beautiful
and loved Pueblo de Cabo Rojo, perhaps under circumstances different from
any envisioned, listening to the "aguinaldos" via the loudspeakers,
I can't help it but feel the spirit of Christmas within my heart, and
concientious of the reason that has kept me in the island, I throw my
special gift request to the Universe, maintaining the hope, that my mother
will make it home before Christmas! Nothing could be a better gift!
May God Bless you and may you always have the wisdom to discern what comes
first in your life!
¡Felices Pascuas y Próspero Año Nuevo!
Feliz Navidad,
Midge Pellicier
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Midge Pellicier, Contributing Editor
was born on December 16, 1962 in Manhattan, NY, to Puerto Rican parents,
Midge had the opportunity to move and live in Puerto Rico for her primary
school years. She lived in Mayagüez for a short period of time
and was raised in Cabo Rojo, where her grandfather owned a piece of
land and had a family compound. She lived in fascination by the contrast
of life in New York versus life in her grandfather’s land. Her
grandfather had never attended school, yet he had learned to read and
was very wise. An innate storyteller, unbeknownst to him, he planted
the seeds of inquisitiveness, love and pride for the island, and a passion
for the arts in his granddaughter.
Her first public performances began at
the age of five. The weaving of her art began with her singing, then
she began writing, painting, dancing, “poesía negroide”
and acting. When she joined the United States Army, and married, the
arts hid in the closet and patiently waited for her to be ready. Upon
her military service she moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts. She became
involved with her community and she visited the old closet, undusted
her passion and began expressing her art once again in her new community.
After an accident that left her partially
disabled, multiple surgeries later, she decided to move to Florida.
Midge has lived the seasons and stages of her art weave. When she was
told she could no longer dance her Afro-Antillean dances, she was “devastated”,
yet something inside comforted her by reminding her of all the other
elements of her art weave. She concentrated aggressively in her writing.
Her first book, “Guirnalda Sebastian; amoratada por la vida”
was published in the year 2000.
She continues to work on new book projects,
articles and is a Contributing Editor for El Boricua monthly publication.
She pursued a Major in Clinical Psychology
and Minor in Banking. After twelve years of Banking Operations and an
Assistant Vice President of a well known bank, with her move to Florida,
she changed career paths and began working in a Sales & Marketing
environment where she worked as a Senior Sales Manager. In 2001, she
began formal education again and became a Licensed Financial Specialist
with NASD and Licensed Insurance Agent for the State of Florida. An
eternal student, and by experience, Midge is self-didactic in a variety
of subjects. Yet it is the arts that fill her spirit, something that
fancy titles have never achieved for her!
She sees a part of herself in each of her
children. Her oldest son, Josh, 22, obtained a degree in Musical Theatre
and Acting and is actively involved in the arts. Her daughter, Taína
Del Mar, 17, sings, dances and writes and her youngest son, Jarred Raúl,
9, sings, dances, acts and writes! I guess as they say in Puerto Rico:
“¡de tal palo, tal astilla!”
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