A Nuyorican Vision - Thoughts in Motion

• I am much wiser but not always smarter than when I was 16.
• I still believe in the common good of people.
• I have learned what the words "love", "patience" and "compassion" really mean.
• I no longer think the world revolves around me.
• I believe there is a time and place for everything.
• I am less active than when I was 16 years old and it shows :)
• I no longer care about my reputation more than I do about my character.
• Having self-worth, a confidence of who I am and belief I can do anything I set my eyes and mind to is the same today as it was when I was 16. Although I really do know who I am today.
• At 16, I had a written journal. Today, I have a digital one.
• My singing still sounds like a tortured cat but I continue to sing out loud no matter where I am to Chaka Khan, Culture Club and Stephanie Mills songs.
• As I was when I was 16, I love being at home more than "running the streets."
• I have greying temples and don't care.
• In 14 days, I will be laid off for the first time in my life. At 16, I never knew what having a career or a job was like.
• My best friend at 16 is still my best friend today.
• I still live in NYC but no longer think "Why would people want to live any place else?"
• I have friends that have been my friends for 2 and 3 decades.
• I have lived in 4 different states and 1 common wealth.
• I still believe in love and the "one".
• I have been in love twice in my life.
• I know what it means to have your heart broken.
• At 16, I had an IBM laptop that I had to use a disk to boot up. Today, I have a Dell laptop that boots up automatically.
• I no longer consider myself a religious person but a spiritual one.
• I still go to a church on Sundays just not a Roman Catholic one.
• I have been a member of several religions - Catholic, Jehovah Witness, Buddhism, and Hinduism.
• My belief in GOD perseveres.
• People still think I am much younger than what I am and look shock when I say my age.
• Younger men now call me ma'am instead of baby.
• I continue to say "Puerto Rico and New York", when people ask me where am I from.
• I no longer desire to live in Puerto Rico. At 16, I wanted to move back to Puerto Rico.
• I still prefer to live in a warmer climate.
• My curiosity of other cultures, food and way of life remains.
• At 16, I was Puerto Rican not a Black woman. Today, I am a Black woman. My culture is Puerto Rican.
• I can no longer write in Spanish but I can still read it.
• I know how it feels to have sex.
• I see my "girls" once a month as opposed to getting together every weekend.
• I still love to eat sunflower seeds with milk (yuck!...I know that's what you are thinking.)
• I now see my parents as human beings more than invincible mini-gods.
• At 16, I was a volunteer at GMHC. At 41, I am a volunteer at GMHC and 3 other places as well.
• Today, a 30 year old is young. At 16, a 30 year old was old.

After taking a look at this very short list since I can still write more but am sparing my readers, I just realized one thing... I am still me and I love myself at any age.