family

by Daniel Cubias • 11/20/08 • The emerald hue of his eyes is freakishly rare, especially for a Latino. Our grandmother teased him when he was a child, saying that he had stolen the eyes of the cat.

He is no good at hiding his emotions, so surprise or happiness or annoyance all dance on his brow whenever they want attention.

by Daniel Cubias, 10/7/08 • When I was a toddler, I couldn’t pronounce her name, so I came up with a garbled nickname that I no longer use. I’ve thought about bringing it back. I think she would like that.

Aunt #1 is the only sibling of my mother whom I have ever met. She came to America after my mother had established a beachhead of sorts in this nation.

By Daniel Cubias, 9/2/08 • Three-quarters of my grandparents died before I was born or so early in my life that I have virtually no recollection of them. So my only real experience with grandparents is my maternal abuela.

I met my grandmother when I was eleven, when she moved to this country against her will. All through my adolescence and early adulthood, she rarely passed on an opportunity to remind everyone that she had never wanted to come to the United States and that it was her troublesome daughters who had brought her to this frigid nation.

By Daniel Cubias, 6/1/9/08 • Let me be clear that I’ve never related to the whole concept of extended family. I don’t have distant relatives I’m forced to visit or creepy old uncles who make everyone uncomfortable or anonymous children who just show up at Thanksgiving.

The Hispanic Fanatic lives and blog in the Twin Cities.

Rhaven Gant is an African-American 10th grader at Fridley High School. With her two parents still together, she wondered why so many of her friends’ parents were not married or separated. This question turned into the focus of her youth news report on the African American family. MORE »