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Regresamos! |
We’re Back! It has been exactly a year since our last publication. To many people the break may have seemed very sudden, but to those who know what it took for me to produce La Costa Latina and events, it was long overdue. After ten years, my goal was to get a break and realize a dream of living and working in a big city. I took a job in New York City working as a business counselor, where I worked with small business owners and people who wanted to own a business to realize their dreams in entrepreneurship. Most of my clients were immigrants and/or women. I hoped to be there longer, but I encountered some situations that made it difficult to stay away from home. In the midst of some very difficult decisions that I often have to make for my family, business, and home, I have to admit that I don’t always remember to have faith in God and His direction. When I do, however, I have learned to be ready for unexpected things to happen when He answers. New York City is a place that my boyfriend and I have enjoyed several times while on vacation, and we wanted to have some private time for ourselves for a little while. We lived in a friendly community in Brooklyn where we were making friends with others who also walked their dogs in the neighborhood. But New York is a difficult place to live especially when you’re not from a big city, and when life events began to occur it became clear that it was time to come back. I had just begun preparing to rent out my house when we received the devastating news of a death in our family. Shortly after, I was faced with the need to find another apartment in New York. For those who don’t know, this is a very difficult task. There were several other things that happened, but the night that I was awakened by a text from my son that he was okay but had been in the library shortly before a man entered the library and fired a riffle, I knew that I was just too far away from home. My son is studying for a career in law enforcement at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee. He is participating in the Army ROTC program and was dressed in his Army fatigues that day. We later talked on the phone about what he might have had to do had he come face-to-face with the shooter. All I wanted was to be in Florida where I could hug my son. He flew up to New York where we spent Christmas and New Years with his brother. It was a somber holiday as we were still grieving such a difficult loss, but we were together. Coming back to Florida has been heartwarming. Everyone has been so welcoming and I’ve received countless expressions of happiness and encouragement, especially on the return of the newspaper. Continuing the newspaper is going to remain the same challenge as it always has been, and as much as I work to produce it, its success is really in the hands of our readers. The same applies to the festivals. It is critical that we support the businesses that advertise on our pages because without them, we have no pages. Many of our advertisers are small businesses and can provide services in Spanish. Please consider contracting their services and let them know that you saw their ad in La Costa Latina. The festivals have become increasingly expensive, so I’m not sure if we can raise enough funds to produce Latino Festival this year. I am, however, planning for the Cinco de Mayo celebration in Pensacola. The Hispanic Resource Center will not be reopened because the kind owners of the building have passed away and the family is preparing to sell the building. There were clearly many changes in our community in the last year, and I thank you for the opportunity to return and move forward. We all need to contribute in making the Gulf Coast a great place to live and supporting our local businesses, neighbors, and Latino community. Please continue to let me know of ways that we can help each other. Sincerely, Grace. |