My First Christmas in America

My nephew is getting married in September which is very exciting! As part of the preparations for the wedding, my sister has been rounding up some family photos. She shared this one with me. It was one I don’t ever recall seeing and yet it’s a special one.

This is my sister and me on our first Christmas in America.
First Christmas in America

That’s me in the back, closest to the tree, a Charlie Brown one if ever I saw one and yet you can see how happy we were.

We were somewhere safe. We were with my parents again. It had been nearly a year and a half since my parents had been forced to flee Cuba and came to the United States to request political asylum. My sister and I had remained with my maternal grandparents in Cuba, expecting that all of us would soon leave shortly to join my parents in the United States.

It didn’t happen that way. Not with Castro.

It’s a long story, but seeing this picture and our joy, I know that things worked out as they should have even if the road to get here was difficult.

Seeing where I’ve gone in all those years, how our family has prospered thanks to this Nation, I know the sacrifice and journey was worth it.

Thanks for coming by today! I hope you all have a lovely Tuesday.

Amazing Wedding on the West Coast

Hubby and I got invited to a must do wedding on the West Coast. It was tough to fly out for just a few days and fly back, but so worth it. The wedding was absolutely amazing and we did have a day to just hang and check out Crystal Cove State Park and Balboa Island. Very cool places. So I’m sharing some photos for you from our too short jaunt!

Can’t wait to go back in July for the RWA National Conference and share some more time with my California friends.


Created with flickr slideshow.

Happily Ever Afters

Photo Credit:  Microsoft Clip ArtAs a romance writer, even a paranormal romance writer, there is one thing that I cannot fail to do — deliver a Happily Ever After!

In books it’s easy to do if you set up the conflict correctly, know what issues need to be resolved and last, end the book while the couple are in the throes of that blissful true love moment.

In life, and in books, the Happily Ever After once that blissful moment is over is sometimes not so easy to maintain. It’s why I loved being able to revisit Diana and Ryder from DARKNESS CALLS in their second book – DEATH CALLS. It’s probably why I’ll write yet another story featuring them since readers understand that achieving that Happily Ever After can be difficult, but oh so joyous when it finally happens.

With the benefit of age and hopefully some wisdom, I look back at my marriage and realize that it hasn’t been easy staying married. There have been ups and down, most times caused by external pressures such as jobs, illnesses and deaths, but somehow through it all, we’ve not only persevered, we’ve stayed happy together.

Some might wonder how that’s possible. How do you slog through the rough times in life and still manage to keep alive the Happily Ever After?

I realized the other day that the answer was: Humor. Respect. Understanding.

Oh wait, that’s three answers, isn’t it! LOL!

But there it was, one way to Happily Ever After and not just in the books that I write, but in real life.

Find someone who can make you laugh and pick you up during the hard times. Someone who respects your opinions and your contributions to the relationship. Someone who understands your needs, both physical and mental. In reality, combine all those attributes and you will usually find Love and with Love comes the Happily Ever After.

How about you? For those of you who have been in long term relationships, what do you find keeps you going through good times and bad?