In early April, I visited Valencia, Spain, for an academic conference. I spent a few days there and had time to do a little sightseeing. I haven't yet posted about it, and I wanted to share with you the falles, and the museum that houses the best one from each year, since the early 1900s.... Continue Reading →
To read previous chapters, click here. Chapter 15 Leda is proud of her fifteen-year-old grandson Michael. He is the only one who is not squeamish and who does not flinch when helping his grandfather. The others visit with Walt, of course, but when it is time to help wipe drool or give medication, the boys... Continue Reading →
Is a good wife somebody who is exact in self-sacrificing and serving her family? Is a bad wife one who is crazy, perhaps while pursuing autonomy? These are the choices presented in the character of Marta Bjornstad in Emma Chapman’s How to Be a Good Wife (2013). We review this novel as part of the... Continue Reading →
Read previous chapters here. Chapter 12 It has been five months since Walt’s stroke. Christmas time is already approaching. Leda does not know if she should put up their tree, a plastic, pre-lit decoration of convenience she found at Kmart a decade ago. Walt now talks a little and has alluded with a few grunted... Continue Reading →
Read previous chapters here. Chapter 11 Leda is cooking now. She knows Walt cannot eat solid food yet, but she feels better just using her hands to create something instead of watch somebody decline no matter what she does. She is chopping potatoes and loading them into her crockpot, hoping she will have the... Continue Reading →
Read previous chapters here. Chapter 10 Soledad had been taught to pray. Pilar attended Mass each week and made sure all of her children received their first communions in a special way. In time, it became time for Soledad and Maria to take the Lord’s sacrament, so Pilar talked to the nuns, those women Soledad... Continue Reading →
I recently realized that I had a printed copy of an interview my mother did with my great grandmother Antonia Montosa Juanes. She is a Hawaiian Spaniard, born to Spanish parents in Makaweli, Hawaii. I always knew she was a Spaniard, but it has recently come to my attention that Hawaiian Spaniards are part of... Continue Reading →
Read Chapter 1 Read Chapter 2 Read Chapter 3 Read Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Walt is still lying in the futuristic-looking bed, tubes growing from his face and wrist. His eyes remain closed, no gentle flicker to indicate the peaceful sleep of dreamers. Leda stares at him with hard resolve, hoping the sense of being... Continue Reading →
Malia is a teenage artist who lives in my neighborhood. I've know her since she was a young girl, and I'm so impressed with her talent that I'm sharing it with you today. In addition, she does work by request, as you'll see below, and she would welcome doing a family portrait for you. Here's... Continue Reading →
From as early as I can remember, I was taught to be proud of my Spanish heritage. My siblings and I all have Spanish middle names. “You are a quarter Spanish,” my mother would always say. My dad would teach me words and phrases, and Spanish colors and numbers were a regular part of my... Continue Reading →
The Bookshelf of Emily J. 