Mi Familia

I have four moms…yes, you read correctly. Four. Cuatro. 4. Believe me, I know how it sounds. I also know some kids that would absolutely shudder at the thought of having more than 1, to them, even one is too much to handle. To be quite frank I feel completely fortunate to have all four, and after this year I can’t imagine having to go through life with less than one. Having two families holds me to a new set of standards, standards that make me want to be the best daughter for both. As you can probably tell, I am writing this as a tribute to my families because I wake up every morning and proceed to go through my day with that incredibly lucky feeling of knowing I have two. They are on different sides of the equator, and worlds away, each loving me unconditionally. I am known as daughter, hija, sister, hermana…and nuestra guagua (our baby.) Now, I am more than pleased to introduce you to mi familia ecuatoriana.

MamÌ_ Rosa: Let me just start off with telling you all how much everyone loves her, and I truly mean everyone! Almost everyone in Paute knows me as MamÌ_ Rosa’s hija (confession: I love it!) She is one of the most loving, generous, strongest women I know. Her welcoming attitude and love is what made the first night in my ecua-home not a awkward night. Her love has the ability to soak through people and make them feel like they mean something, it soaked through me and made me feel part of the family right from the get-go. Madre of MarÌ_a and Patricio.

MarÌ_a: She has been dubbed Ecua-mom #1″ secretly by me to help me explain the detail of having more than one mom to outsiders. She has the same welcoming