Go mommy, it's your birthday , you gonna party like its your birthday! I would like to talk today about my mom. She is a God damn saint, but doesn't EVERYONE think their mother is a saint? Well anyone who has put up with my bullshit for this long HAS to be a saint, at least in my eyes. Anyway, today is her birthday, and she is turning 72. That really scares me, because I am pretty sure that when it comes time for them to move out of their home, I will be the caregiver for them.
First of all, let me back up, how does a 29 year old man, have a 72 year old mom? Well, let me tell you the short version. As a young wife, my mother and father adopted my sister and brother when they were 5 and 6 respectively, they are biologically my mother's cousins' children, but due to some tragic circumstances they moved in with my mom's folks and my folks. My mother and father had also been trying to bare children of their own, but God did not have that in his plans for them. He had one hot mess headed their way...cut to October 25th , 1979 when they were told that there son had been born in Bogotá, Colombia. A couple of weeks later, they picked me up in Colombia, and brought me home to Puerto Rico. She raised me quite well, and the love that she provided (and my father too of course, but today is all about my mamita) I never really have had much interest in finding my birth mother. She provided a stable loving and supportive home for me. She always encouraged me to follow whatever dreams I had, whether they be the violin, tae kwon do, or musical theater she was there for me every step of the way.
My mother is a great inspiration to me, she was a professional world renowned concert pianist with a huge passion for spreading the message of music to as many people as she could. When we moved to our main house when I was 1 or 2, she put her ass in gear. You see we moved into the last home, of renowned concert cellist and humanitarian Pablo Casals. She drew inspiration from him and began holding classical music concerts in our home which launched many a music career in Puerto Rico. A little while ago she was honored by the UN for her devotion to the arts in Puerto Rico.
I could not have asked for a more open and loving woman, when it came both to the religion/spirituality and the gay thing. When I first started doubting my roman catholic upbringing she was very supportive and said to me “all I know is that there is positive and negative energy in the world, and all you have to do is surround yourself with as much positive energy as you can and God will take care of you”. As for the gay thing, she never put it down, in fact a couple of months after they found out I was gay, we went to NYC for a brief vacation and she bought me my first OUT magazine. She was also very welcoming of my boyfriend of the time, Michael when he came down to meet them. All four of us hung out on my parent's queen size bed watching Moulin Rouge on DVD together, my mom and dad snuggled on one corner, and me and Michael snuggled up on the other. What a loving mother I have.
It saddens me immensely when I think back on all the horrible things I put my mother through, throughout my using. I gave the woman ulcers, I would not return her calls for weeks, I would manipulate her into giving me money, and to trust me when I should definitely have not been trusted. Whenever I am having a bad day, I just think of how proud of me she is. She told my counselor the other day “I am so proud of him, he answers my phone calls now, he is a miracle” And that just lifts me up beyond belief.
So today, in her honor I pick one of my favorite Disney scenes/songs: “Baby Mine” from Dumbo.
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