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If you know any Puerto Ricans then you know how proud a people we are. I'm no different although I've been somewhat detached from the motherland for some time. 20 years to be exact. Last time I was in Puerto Rico my brother and I went without our parents to stay with our grandparents. He was 16, I was 12 turning 13. Imagine what ensued!
There are many reasons why I hadn't returned. First and probably most significant was that I started playing football and basketball when I got to high school and was consumed by both. During my sophomore year I was playing varsity basketball for a national powerhouse and playing in tournaments around the country when my parents decided to move to Florida. I was 15 turning 16 living in a new town (Orlando) with no friends and only a basketball. Looking back that might've been an opportune time to go back to the island but again I found solace on the basketball court so I practiced, practiced, practiced and prepared for the new team I would have to try out for. When I graduated high school I jetted back up north and moved in with my brother and at that point there was no looking back. Paying bills and rent was a priority and then in 1999 my grandfather died. My grandmother moved to Cleveland to live with my aunt because there was no one to take care of her in P.R. and that became one more reason not to go. When she died in 2007 it became very clear to me that I had to get back to the island at some point but had no real plan or idea as to when that would be. On my 32nd birthday my wife presented me with tickets to Puerto Rico and all those years of pushing it back were now behind me. All the memories of my childhood, my grandparents and the beautiful island came rushing back and at that point a nervousness came over me. All those years that would have to be faced. Relatives to see, questions to answer and graves to visit including the one of one of my closest cousins Celia who died in 1988 of cancer. But then I arrived, a tear fell, I kissed the ground and I knew I was home.
These are some of the photos that I took but I was so into my experience that detaching myself from it to take photos was nearly impossible. I hope you like what I came up with.
