Elsa Mora

Missing her.

My Mom left yesterday and I miss her a lot. The older I get the more I appreciate my Mom. She's a very special person. I feel so lucky to be her daughter.

The illustration is something I drew to channel the way I felt when she left.

 

Our Little Genius :)

 

As time passes by Diego's development is more and more visible. He has become a real artist. His progress has been so wonderful this year. My Mom, who is here visiting, notices the dramatic changes even more than we do. His eye contact is way more consistent, his vocabulary is growing, his fine motor skills are amazing. His sense of humor is funnier than ever. We can now go out with him and it is a lot easier, he has a lot more self-control. And guess what?! He's spending an hour a day in a regular class with typically developing children! The rest of the day he spends in the special class. It's such an ideal situation for him right now. Diego is gradually being introduced to "the real world" and he's doing great in it. The way he plays with Natalie is a lot better too, closer to the way two regular kids play, but he still needs to do the same thing with other children that are not Natalie.

Our main goal with him right now is to develop more his social skills. Sometimes he says things that are not very welcome by other people, he needs to learn the social rules to keep himself out of trouble. The other day he was intrigued by a certain man's head (a bold head). Diego got close to the man and carefully observed his head, the man was really nice. Then Diego said: Wow! You have such a big head. How come do you have such a big head? Your head is really big and you have no hair at all... the man's wife started laughing and laughing, she could no stop. But the man didn't really know what to do :o it was so embarrassing! I asked the gentleman not to take it personally, but how could he do that?!

Things like that happen and Diego doesn't understand what's wrong with it because he's very literal. He describes what he sees as it is. But when it comes to people you can't always be literal because people get hurt. But he will get better at that, it's a matter of time. In the meantime we're really happy about our boy!

Yay for Diego!!!

Elsita :)

(In another note: the pendant from my previous post is already available)

Bird Pendant Coming Soon to Etsy.

UPDATE!

THE PENDANT IS ALREADY AVAILABLE HERE.

I love how they look!

There will be only 18 available :o

The brass birdie is a vintage find from Etsy. I made it even more especial by adding little touches of special paint for metal to the body. The wooden background is carefully painted with acrylic paint, slighted crackled with a special material that I found @ the art store and protected with three layers of satin varnish. The metal ball chain with tiny black beads is included. See you soon!

Elsita :)

 

Exciting Projects are Cooking...

My plate is pretty full right now, with more projects than I should be working on in a single year. But they're all so exciting! There is one in particular that's cooking between the USA (me) and France (them) that I'm loving a lot. The picture above has to do with it. More information to come as this project evolves...

On the other hand, I wanted to thank you a lot from the bottom of my heart for the beautiful comments about my friend Debra. I'm sure that your good energy is reaching her for a successful recovery. Sending you lots of good energy as well!

Elsita :)

 

MY FRIEND.

I have a friend who is a very important person in my life. I always tell her that she made me become a real person because before her I was like a little "wild animal". Debra and I met in 1993 when I was very young living in a "hole" in Camaguey, Cuba. With her help I came out of the hole and started learning things that changed my life in deep ways.

With Debra's help I traveled to Italy (first time ever going out of Cuba at age 23). Traveling out of island was hard, the whole process was complicated with lots of paper work. I didn't have the money or stamina for going through all the frustrations but she helped me be patient and the trip became a reality. I loved Italy! Being there was a real school, but as the day of my return approached I got nervous. I didn't want to go back to the hole in Camaguey. Then, Debra stopped me from doing a stupidity. I called her to say: "please Debra send me a copy of my birth certificate. I am going to stay over here with my new boyfriend. Some people I know are going to find me a job cleaning houses". Debra stopped me from doing so. She asked me to come back to Havana and offered me to live in her place. I knew that she was always right so I listened. That happened in 1995.

Living with my friend was one of the most important experiences of my life. With her I learned to believe in myself. I never thought that I was going to sell my art but she took my pieces to the USA while I was in Cuba and found ways to sell them with her friend's help. I never thought that I was going to be able to have a solo show of my work, but she made it possible for the first time in Havana. She found my first gallery ever in the USA. She made possible for me to visit the Art Institute of Chicago where I learned so much. She took me to New York City so I could see the city for the first time.  

Debra introduced me to Marguerite (Bill's sister) who eventually introduced me to Bill, who married me a short time after we met and with whom I had my 2 beautiful children. Debra is behind anything good that ever happened to me. More than friends we consider ourselves sisters. We have spent long periods of time without seeing each other because of her work and my busy life, but we have always felt connected, we have always known that we're in each others hearts. 

She came to visit me last December and it was wonderful. We reconnected and spent quality time catching up with each other's lives. Every time I see Debra is so special, because I put everything in perspective. I remember where I come from and how much I have accomplished because of her. She puts me in touch with my essence. 

Imagine the shock when I found out that she had been diagnosed with cancer a few weeks after she left. I was devastated. But knowing how strong she is I saw later on that she had taken the news with such calm. Debra has the quality of being calm and thoughtful whenever there is a problem. I think that problems are afraid of her because she scares them. I have a deep faith that the cancer treatment is going to work great as it happened with my brother Rene. She's doing everything right, plus she has lots of support from relatives and friends. Debra has always been extremely healthy and physically active. I am sure that her body is going to do a great job helping itself recover and her mind is already in the right place.

With this post I wanted to share this treasure of friend that I have with you. I feel so lucky to have Debra in my life. Isn't it amazing how much a good friend can literally change us? She helped me find the right direction whenever I was wrong, she could always see beyond what I saw, she has always been understanding, never judgemental, she's modest and gentle and so smart.

I have said several times that before I had my children, there are 3 main people that have shaped me in deep ways and they are: My Mom, my friend Debra and my husband Bill. I feel really lucky. 

I love you so much hermanita! And I send you tons of positive energy with this post! 

Elsita :)