PinnedThe Story I Told Myself to Lift my Spirits While MotheringThe Baby Story — “Do you want me to tell you The Baby Story?” I asked the curly hair boy tucked in his second-hand toddler bed that I got from a couple who was changing duty stations. My baby, as if the day had not been arduous. As if I hadn’t lost my cool…Motherhood6 min read
Published in Have a Cup of Jo-Hanny·PinnedLessons Mamá Taught Me: Love Thy SisterFirst Lesson — My grandma raised me when my mom decided to immigrate to the United States and couldn’t get my sister and me papers. It sounds more horrible than what it really was. To be honest, I didn’t know any of this until I became older. …Relationships6 min read
Published in Have a Cup of Jo-Hanny·PinnedI Don’t Need to Work HarderI Really Don’t — The audacity! Stop being lazy, and work has become the comment heard worldwide. And with so much tragedy and injustices currently going on, that comment is as tone-deaf and out of touch as tone-deaf, and out-of-touch comments can get. It’s ridiculous. To say that comment stayed with me is putting…Immigration5 min read
Published in Have a Cup of Jo-Hanny·PinnedThe Representation of LatinxAbout one in four Hispanics have heard of Latinx, but just three use it, according to a new study- Pew Research. In the Dominican Republic, no one ever called me Hispanic, or Latina, or Latinx. I was just Joa. However, the Dominican Republic does differentiate between blacks and whites by…Latinx Heritage Month4 min read
Published in Have a Cup of Jo-Hanny·Jan 6The Ghosted, GhostingI was ghosted so much at one point, I started doing it to others. But not at first. No, at first, I was offended. Flabbergasted. How can you not face me and tell me it’s over? Was the thought percolated in my head over and over months after it happened? I can’t…Ghosting3 min read
Published in Have a Cup of Jo-Hanny·Oct 5, 2021“Unpopular Choices” — How the Army Taught Me To Embrace UnpopularitySometimes making unpopular choices can be challenging. This is especially true if it goes against everything your mind and body want to do. The Army taught me how to embrace this, though. When I was deployed as a Tech Supply NCOIC, my job was demanding but rewarding. As an SSA…Army5 min read
Published in Have a Cup of Jo-Hanny·Oct 4, 2021A Collection of Short Stories that Came Out of Sheer Coincidence: Pieces on Human Existence, Love, Loss and MoreI think we all have a story to tell. A story that — while it may not be earth-shattering or particularly important in the grand scheme of things — has an impact on the way we see the world. In this book, you’ll find stories from people who are just…Anthology3 min read
Published in Have a Cup of Jo-Hanny·Sep 1, 2020Stop Romanticizing Rape in Booksand write what you know — I know what they mean when they say, ‘write what you know.’ Recently I had the pleasure of reviewing an ARC. I love reading advanced copies because it makes me feel like Christopher Columbus, who discovered nothing but still thought he did. …Reading5 min read
Published in Have a Cup of Jo-Hanny·Aug 29, 2020Our American TragedyCan we rebuild the U.S. like Germany after WWII? — I know changing laws, voting, and eradicating loopholes in police union contracts are on the top of our to-do list. As it should be. But who’s going to de-brainwash the racists? At first, I thought, we could wait them out, since that generation who lived and still yearn for Jim…Social Justice5 min read
Published in Have a Cup of Jo-Hanny·Aug 28, 2020A Latina’s RebaptismChoosing American Over Self — Latinos try so hard to be American in the United States, sometimes it kills us. This assimilation, pushed by our own family once we come into this country, has us losing ourselves to the point of extinction. We get to a point where we don’t know a word in English…Poetry On Medium2 min read