When Heartbreak is a Good Thing

Never has a groupie had such a quick turn around in meeting the object of her admiration. A few days ago I broke through a writing lag having received a magical touch of inspiration through reading Anjanette Delgado's blog, "Wise Latina Woman". And voilá, a creative visualization come true, just a couple of days later, we were hugging each other at the Miami Book Fair. She was there to present her novel, "La píldora del mal amor", which I held snuggly in hand. Originally published in English as "The Heartbreak Pill" in the introduction to her talk, the author clarified that that she wrote the book in Spanish but was asked to adapt it into English for the first published edition - not an easy matter considering the "sabor" - the essential flavor - of the Spanish manuscript.

I hadn't planned to introduce myself until the book signing, hoping the joy of recognition would unite us. We had become friends through Facebook and I was waving my new favorite author banner quite vigorously. Nevertheless, we met even before the event began. Ronald and I had arrived early and were sitting toward the front of the Miami Dade College third floor conference area. She arrived, walked toward the stage and greeted the organizers. I was beaming at her, because I'm transparent that way. After a few minutes, she walked over to me and said, "Hi, I'm Anjanette. I noticed your smile." I timidly responded, "Hi, I'm Cory." And with all the warmth of a wise Latina woman, she exclaimed, "Oh, you're Cory!" I gushed about how she had inspired me and how I couldn't wait to read her book in Spanish.

Suddenly, a glamorous woman approached, a dear friend of hers, and the two lit up the room as they embraced. Now, I've often found myself frozen when a conversation becomes three, but this felt more like family. They turned to me and both said, "We're close friends." And because they were wise Latina women, instead of marginalizing me, Ms. Delgado pulled me in, introducing a growing circle to one another. I felt I should give them space, their time intersecting only briefly, and so sat down. And soon, the talk began...