I have about six drafts right now all from the past year. I have a habit of starting to write something, but then second guessing myself and just leaving it there for another day. I figured this would be a good time to at least get some words out and try moving this blog forward just the tiniest bit.
I have spent the last month with extended family members living with us for a bit. I was born in raised in Puerto Rico and I’m sure there’s no explanation needed for why my cousins and aunt were staying with us for a little while. Hurricanes Irma and Maria really did a number on the island that I know and love. The stories that I hear from my friends and family (when I’m able to get through) all tell the story of an island that’s basically been completely wiped down to the bare bones. In the past month since Hurricane Maria passed efforts have been made every single day to bring back a sense of normalcy, but it’s not easy.
Puerto Ricans have an enormous spirit, but it’s hard to walk down the roads you’ve known your whole life but have them looking entirely alien to you. This is the feeling that all my relatives have been expressing to me. It’s hard to wrap your head around really. I know that disaster fatigue is a thing, but it can be disheartening to know that people’s hearts are forgetful. They’ll jump to the next thing once enough time has passed.
I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by people in my community and in work that are still worried. These are the people that have been collecting donations and raising money and have not stopped asking “What are we doing to help our fellow Americans? Our fellow human beings?” It is people like this that really give me hope for the future of our world. Puerto Rico may be broken but it is not dead. “Puerto Rico se levanta” is a phrase many Puerto Ricans, both on the island and on the mainland, have been sharing. It means “Puerto Rico will rise,” Puerto Rico will lift itself up from the ground and rebuild, “We will not be beaten.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda (whom you may have heard of) wrote a song in collaboration with many other Latino artists. The lyrics are simple — they list each municipality of the small island — but the artists sing the chorus in a way that brought tears to my eyes the first time I listened to it. I always feel like all the voices are representative of the island itself — it’s people, it’s animals and the rest of nature — calling out to one another, saying “we are still here.” It is the voices of those Puerto Ricans on the mainland and around the world calling back “we are with you.”
“Say it loud and there’s music playing. Say it soft and it’s almost like praying.”
I didn’t really set out to make any particular kind of post, if I’m being honest. This is just a topic that came out as I started to type. I just want to say thank you to everyone who’s thought of us and thank you to every single person that’s fighting for us and working to bring our island back to greatness. We will Rise and we will be even better than before. It’s not an easy task, and it’s not a quick one but we will get there.
Adventures into Adulting 