A Family Tradition - a Column by Carlos Briceño

I love to read. I developed my affinity for books as a young child, when I would accompany my father on his trips to the library. A joke in my family is that when I die, I want to be buried under a library. That way, my ghost will always…

One of U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s dreams was to send men to the moon and have them return safely to Earth. “We choose to go to the moon,” he told a crowd of about 40,000 people at Rice University’s football stadium in September 1962. “We choose to go…

“Dancing at the Vatican” is a 2019 documentary film created and narrated by Charles Sabine, a former television reporter and foreign correspondent. It shines a spotlight on several families from Latin America who have Huntington’s disease (HD). The film culminates with the families, who are from poor towns in…

In honor of Valentine’s Day last year, I wrote my wife a love letter. I’ve decided this will be a tradition, so following is another one. Dear Jill, Last February, COVID-19 was on the cusp of steamrolling the world. Little did we know that in March, you would become…

Late last year, my wife, Jill, and I challenged ourselves to a 21-day negativity detox. With so much gloom and cynicism in the world, we decided to work on being positive. Jill has Huntington’s disease, and stress makes her symptoms worse. We kept track by placing a dollar…

One positive thing about having a Cuban mother is eating Cuban food. My mom is an excellent cook and, during my childhood, eating traditional Cuban meals — ropa vieja, tostones, picadillo, and rice and beans — was a major highlight. One negative as a child was dealing with her…

Last November, I joined a club. I share this news with the same spirit that Groucho Marx once wrote his resignation letter to the Friar’s Club: “I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.” I’m referring to the COVID-19 club.

It’s all about the mindset. I suggest caregivers work on developing a positive mindset. It makes life much easier and more joyful. For instance, waiting in line is not fun for me. But I have learned to pray while I wait. What used to be annoying is now positive.

Hi, 2021. How are you? You have much to live up to. Last year, a pandemic carpet-bombed its way into our lives. As a result, it woke many people up. Families cooped up together spent more time with one another. Life in the fast lane slowed down a bit.

Whoever named Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. government’s project to produce and develop COVID-19 vaccines safely and effectively, got it right. In doing research for this column, I came across words like “unprecedented” and “breakneck” to describe not only how fast it took a vaccine to be approved, but…