She seems to be there all the time, even when you don't want her to be.
Sometimes.
Each year, she seems to get better.
When I'm in trouble she helps me solve the problem.
When I'm sad, she cheers me up.
When I'm happy, she is there to share the moment, and make it better.
When I find myself in trouble
I know where to go
The woman who knows me the best
Is the one woman I know the best too!!
Today, I'm kind of lost without her
Mikki, my wife.
She is there all the time
The way it should be.
A lot of woman in there
Can't leave her now
She got me forever and how.
Not sometimes
For all time.
My one and only wife.
Mikki, my wife said the car was fancy, because of the GPS on the dashboard, and all the leg room in the front seat, too, she told him that grandma was going to love it, because her bad legs can use the space to be more relaxed.
She was talking about Robert's car, our favorite nephew, who stopped to see us on his way to see his Grandma in Tampa for the Holidays. It was good to see the kid again, for me; Last time I saw him was at his wedding in San Antonio, before he went back to fight the bad people of Iraq.
He came with Becca his wife and Adrian, his daughter; The women now of what could become a larger family.
Robert wants more kids, if Becca is willing.!!
I was glad to see him again, the kid, now a man, made stronger by the things you see when you fight a war.
He was scarred by the experience and the adventure, if there was any in it; Only warriors have them, and get them, wounds.
Robert came back with some, and Becca is helping to heal them off him.; But the scars stay the same; You know where you got them, where they are, and where they are going to be when you get old.
His wounds are still raw, We know that, Mikki and I.
So does Becca, his best half, that loves him, and does her best to keep him happy the way he likes it, and the way it should be.
And Robert is back stronger, a full man, a man made by the fights he fought.
Against the enemy that he killed.
My Warrior came home, to see me and my wife.
He came for the holidays.
Robert, my warrior.
Is back.!!
A great kid.
Is now a great guy, and a very good man.
The best man I know today..
I live to see others now.
Time in all forms, has come to roost.
No, my life is not over, and it will not be over for a long time.
Just taking a good look at my past; And a peek of what may be ahead.
A wonderful woman gave me a kid, a long time ago, and the kid is grown now.
With kids of her own, that baby, is a full woman of today, and now.
Athena, my daughter is all grown and no longer a kid herself.
Today I feel poor, because she is not around.
And Julian and Jade take care of the one that just came, Persephone.
She got her hands full, and mom and I would like to help.
But she lives far away.
And we wish, she and the children were around.
Mikki and I are very rich; We know we have grandkids.
Having them closer would make all our lives better.
To have the kids around, near us.
Would make us all rich.
Time is going by, and I feel poor today because they are not near.
My daughter is allright, and so are her kids; My grandkids.
Today I feel rich, for my daughter, and her kids.
Grandma and Grandpa are nuts about kids
Her kids, now.
Our richness. is them..
.
After work last night I stopped at the Kangarro gas station near work to meet my friend Dean.
We parked close to the entrance to the store; He bought some Gatorade and I got me a four pack of Buds.
He drank one of his and I one of mine.
And we talked in the parking lot for a while, about the new joy in his life.
Dean became a father a month ago, Jaime his wife of a year, gave him a son.
They name him Zane.
And I kid him about it, and he say's that he hopes the "In", never gets attached to the kid.
We said good night to each other and promised to keep in touch, and maybe to have lunch once a week now that he works close by.
On the way home my cell-phone rang, it was my sister; At the crossing of University and Atlantic the familiar lights of a police cruiser lights, those beautiful flashing light that I like so much, got behind me, and I closed the phone; My sister would have to wait.
The officer told me I had run past a red light, and I told him the light was yellow when crossed.
He asked for ID's, and went to the cruiser to check them.
Deep Purple was playing on my CD, and the officer came back to my window and asked if I would mind rolling the sleeve of my clothing in my right arm, and to turn it this way and the other way, so he could look over it.
He thank me for the cooperation and went back to his police car.
And then another police car came, with the lights flashing too, and it parked next to the other one.
Crossing a light, two police cars? Something was up.
From the other car a police woman came to my car and asked me if I had been or lived in LA? And I told her no.
She asked me if I had been drinking, and I told her, I had a beer with a friend about an hour back and the rest of them were in the back seat.
She left and I waited.
The music changed to Cat Stevens.
She asked about the bag near me, and I told her it was a burger for my wife, who was waiting for me, and probably very hungry.
And then the policeman came, with two tickets.
He told me that there was no fault on the light; And there would be no penalty for that.
As for the beer in the car, he gave me a ticket, and advise for the future, if I happen be stopped again, let that officer know that, there is another person in LA with my name.
That guy is bad news.
When I signed the ticket the officer said, "You have an interesting signature, Mr Rodriguez"
I hope that guy in LA doesn't do it the same, I told him.
Before he left me be free again.
After that I drove home, tired.
A long day made longer by another light.
Mikki got her burger later when I got home.
She ate it as soon as she saw it.
I did not tell her, and, she doesn't know why she waited so long.
One thing I know.
The guy in LA don't know her.
They are everywhere!
And they are abnormaly normal just like you and me, unless you are, well, abnormal.
The notion that these people do their fighting in Stadiums and Arenas should be given up for good.
Gladiators fought to live; The new gladiators live and fight to enjoy a daily routine that will get them to old age.
Today a large segment of the world views athletes as the new breed of them.
And many of them are deserving too. But not to the extreme of idolatry. That is too much.
Soldires are not gladiators, they are warriors!
My gladiators come from many walks of life, and they fight for what is right and good, and sometimes, for trophies too!
Fathers who work two jobs, and mothers who do the same to make ends meet, they are gladiators.
Lovers who know why they love, who they love. That kind of bliss, makes them great gladiators.
The kid with a dream, that is told not to try to make a reality of it because going for it seems too hard, and goes for it, he is a gladiator.
Many of them get to fulfill what they shot for.
Some fall short, but not for lack of effort, they too, are gladiators.
The new breed.
So, for those who are trying to do it, who have done it, and who did it, I salute you!!
I am glad to be surrounded by you.
#####################################################################################
Dedicated to those that make the most sense having in my life, because, it makes sense to have them in it.
Mikki.............for loving me
Jass, for finding Jimmy.
Ken and Sheryl for going ga-ga, everytime they like into each others eyes.!
We sat in my room.
And we talked.
And he told me things about tomorrow.
His tomorrow.
What he likes, what he thinks, what he wants.
Young as he is, he feels he can acomplish all his dreams.
I told him to go for all that, and then, if he feels like it, more.
Knowing him, he will.
Alex, he got it.
My nephew is going to make it.
All these dreams, and all the thoughts of it.
They are not a dream, they are goals.
Just got Mikki, my wife, home from work; I went to pick her up at Wal-Mart, were she works.
And she got to it, right away; Shouting at Baby, the cat, to stay away from the food she is doing.
She does this thing, only for today, and for Christmas.
Cooking with the big stuffed olives.
As old as he is, Baby, my cat, is still very smart; And he knows when she does it.
The smell of olives in vinegar, gets him close to the oven.And he can't resist it.
And Mikki, feeds him, just these days.
Every other day the cats eat regular cat food
And Dizzy, the other cat, just comes in.
And hangs around, to get some too
But he never does the same things that Baby does.
Who knows what it is that attracts him to that smell.
And Mikki feeds them to him, to make him happy.
He is old and almost white, but those olives, he likes them a lot.
Good for him, my first cat.
My mother came to me, with a sad look in her face, and the look she gave me, when she at last, gave me the news. Was bad news, just as as I thought.
Your dad is dead; She told me; And we have been invited to his funeral.
And there I was, once more, so young, with a loved one dead,
" I went to mom's room and, said, I don't want to go.!
His family insist that you be there, because you're the only son he had.
And you carry his name.!" She said to me, and that was that.
As big as my father was, he was buried in a small coffin.
The mountain he was trying to make a good road, fell on him.
My grandma Izabel, came to hug me, when she saw me, at the funeral.
It felt good, the way she wrapped her arms around my body, and told me, she loved me.
Because, I reminded her of her late son, My father.
The road to the cementery was dented with potholes, after you left the road from the church
and crossed the railrod street, and you had to look down all the time to avoid getting your feet wet.
I was there, when my father was put in a hole, to rest in peace, at last, for him.
Miriam and Izabela, my sisters were there too; And just like me, they shoveled some dirt to the hole
just like I did, to fill our father resting place...
The day is forgetable now because it happen a while back.
And when JP told me she was gone, the day, became something to remember.
"Maria is gone.!!!" she told me, "I went to see her for some paperwork, and there was somebody else in her office"
Maybe she is sick, and took the day off, I said.
"No Jorge", she told me, "She is gone"!!!
"There is another lady in her office, and she is from out of town".she said.
I don't like Mondays, and this one became worse than a Margarita made with vodka.
The best HR person who I connected with, the one that I went to see when I needed to know, who was in
and who called out.
Who told me, to counsel those, that needed it; And to give advice to them that needed it.
She was out.!!!
Wayne, the office manager, told me complained about me being in her office too much.
And the visits to her office became less, and then just nothing.
She never said anything about me being there, to me,
Many times, our conversations turned to family, and the joy of having grandkids.
And those times were ours.
She was rare, Maria, one of kind.
Like an Elephant, big, in control of all things around.
Wise, and motherly to all.
I still remember that day when JP came to me, and told me.
But it was until friday, that I knew for sure.
Adam,asked because he felt lonely, and he got some from Eve, a long time ago.
And from then, until now, when we have a need, we, beg, we plead, we get on our knees and, well, we just hope it will all be alright.
All the hopes, and all the dreams, and a future, that was born just a few days ago, when a new man told you "I will bring change".
And change that was needed, in a country confused by natural and simple truths.
A new man is here!!!
A perfect man, he is not, but he is the man you chose to have your needs go away.!!
A man full of good ideas and great resolve, can bring you back.
And this man, that you elected to lead you; This man that needed you to make him a somebody, in order to make your life better, is just another man.
And just like Adam, he got some, but, this time, he got a lot more.
