Raising a Blue Moon

   I hope, when you read this, that I have raised you to be grateful. Grateful for the parents who love you, for your health, for the freedom you enjoy, and for the life we have provided for you. You are lucky, you live in a country where we are free to say what we want and to enjoy our religion, celebrate our traditions, a country that doesn't live in war. We live in a country that is considered a first-world nation, which means that your idea of what it's like to be poor is probably not very accurate unless you have done your research (in that case, I am very proud). Poverty is a strange, foreign thing for you. Besides a few homeless people in the street, you haven't seen children malnourished and begging for money, you haven't seen the filth and the desperation associated with hunger, and you haven't felt hunger, ever. You don't know what it actually means not to have a home, electricity, phone, internet, a car, an education. Your opportunities are endles...

 This title is about Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice" and this other book you are probably too young to read. You will get it someday (hopefully when you are thirty). Mr. Darcy is proud but kind and is willing to do anything for love. Mr. Grey is bossy and has a lot of issues, don't get me wrong, he is hot, but he is also a distraught individual. My hope for you is while choosing who to like, love, etc., you choose a Mr. Darcy type, a guy that will put you above anything else, that will challenge you and accept you for who you are. Your life will never be perfect, we don't live in a fairy tale land, but you don't have to settle for anything less than total adoration and acceptance. When I think about the men I have loved, I realize I was the happiest with a man that made me certain of his love for me, that was a shelter when I needed one, and that challenge me to become a better version of myself.  I realize that dating the hot, dangerous, and m...

    Given that I am a writer above everything else, the names have extra special meaning for me. I am the third Maria Luisa in my family. My grandmother was named Maria Luisa, and her first daughter (my mother) was named Maria Luisa. It took me about 15 years to make peace with my name. Maria Luisa is a strong name, "it was the name of a queen," said my mom and grandma. I discovered the truth; I went to a park in Seville, Spain, by the same name, built for a queen and felt really important.  As a little girl, the name was too big and serious for me; I wanted something more melodic, more bouncy, and playful; as a result of my frustration, my barbies were always Andreas, Paulinas, Camilas, or any other name that I thought suited me better than mine. Once I started writing, I realized that my name sounded exactly like me; it was strong, it was powerful, and it wasn't of a silly girl; it was the name of a woman. So, Julieta, my darling, this is what I wanted for you. ...