WAYS OF LIFE WORTH EMBRACING

rooms with colorful details and clever expressions, and at times they have a hard time “landing the plane” so to speak, as some wives like to describe the point when their husbands just really need to wrap up a story

• Chimichurri works brilliantly to flavor meat, vegetables, rice, etc. but it is much more comparable to minced garlic than barbecue sauce because too much chimichurri and no amount of mouthwash will cut the taste efore you complete the thought, Why do I want to read what a middle-age white guy has to say about Hispanic culture?, let me put this out there: my life would be far less rich, interesting and meaningful without my Hispanic friends’ warmth, wisdom, flair, and yes, food.

I grew up in predominantly white suburbs in middle-class communities in the Midwest, and my exposure to Latino culture was mostly related to Cinco de Mayo “celebrations” and the raucous fans I experienced every four years through my TV as part of World Cup viewing.

Then, in my late 20s I moved to Lakeland, where Spanish was not just a class to take in school and I had to grapple with the reality of the different dialects and the cultural cues that mean one thing in Haiti and something completely different in Dominican Republic, even though the countries share an island.

Here are some general and imperfect observations and nuggets of wisdom I have learned, which you may nod your head at or shake your head at, depending on your experiences.

• Many of the Latinos I call friends are the best story-tellers I know; they talk with their hands, they captivate

• It’s complex and complicated to be an American but still try to pay homage to roots and traditions of other cultures and upbringings; there is an invisible, yet important line, where a person with Hispanic roots may “disappoint” their parents, grandparents, etc. because they have adopted a more Western approach to a certain holiday, style or tradition that was part of their family’s DNA; be sensitive to that

• If you can’t understand a Hispanic person’s joke, then the joke just might be on you because it’s probably about you!

I love the fact that my kids live in a community where people look and sound different than them and grew up with different experiences than we did. I love that every fall there is a highoctane celebration of Hispanic culture downtown at the Hispanic Festival. And

I love that I have the privilege of living somewhere that so beautifully reminds me todos somos hijos de dios—we are all children of God.

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