Reyes Writes and Tells

W hen Addie was born, she had a congenital heart disease that caused her heart to age much faster than the rest of her body. By the time she was five, it was time for a heart transplant. Addie didn’t really think much of this. She would run around, though quickly winded, and run again, her long, dark curls a tangled mass around her head. She would laugh and laugh and say, don’t worry mommy, I will be fine. Just watch.        Addie got a new heart when she was ten and then, a new lease in life. But still her mother worried. Don’t worry mommy, I will be fine. Just watch. I will graduate from high school and then you won’t worry.        Soon enough Addie was in high school. Her bubbly personality drew friends, and the smile she flashed everyone was always warm and friendly. She always wore a bright colored sweatshirt and her dark curls were now tamed in a single thick braid down her back. Everyone liked Addie and no one remembered that Addie was ever sick. When track season started

My life has always been defined by where I've lived and where I've been. I am always in motion, it seems, not wanting to take root anywhere. Rather like a tumbleweed, blown wherever the wind wishes. This is my first podcast, a brief glimpse into the places in my life.

I am not a storyteller. I am a story listener. When I was little, I would listen to the radio where every night, at the appointed hour, I would listen to this radio show called "Dagiti Sarsarita ni Uncle Pete." Here I would hear Uncle Pete recount all sorts of stories. This was the mid-seventies, in the Philippines, and I was entranced by his voice, the sound effects, and by the new language that I was learning. Having only spoken English up to this point, I was in love with hearing Ilocano and listening to its cadence, only half understanding at first, until one day I realized I understood the whole story. Sometimes they were adventure stories with an unlikely young hero, sometimes they were traditional fairytales, sometimes they were folk tales from an unknown (to me) indigenous group. Uncle Pete regaled me with tales and worlds new to me. I don't remember the details anymore but I remember the anticipation of the story and the excitement of being in the story, wha