Greetings, everyone
Today, my daughter, Manuela Valentina is oficially a Quinceañera!
Her mother, her sisters, and I want to wish her a very Happy Birthday. It won't be celebrated in the María Rodríguez or Luis Mariano Rivera Theater, as she imagined it some years ago, but her closest friends and family will be with her, even all the relatives who have left the country, supporting her, as always, in everything she does.
Her mother had this video made with the help of cousin 
This is her way of telling Valen how much she loves her.
For my part, I can say a father cannot be any prouder of a child. I must say I've been blessed with all my children and Valentina, even though she is not my biological daughter, has become a part of me, just like any of my biological children. My daughters, Vivian and Anna, have made things so much easier. They get along very well and because their hearts are also super big, they make a terrific combination.
I remember as I was growing up, my mother telling me stories of how much it meant for her that my father did not mind that she had already a son, my elder brother, when they met. It is not easy for men to raise somebody else's children, she said, but it is double the blessing. I think she was right.
A sample of her comic book/super heroes art. She taught herself English and writes her own super hero stories.
Whether it was destiny or whatever we might call it, I am now walking my father's steps, and I could not be happier.
Manuela Valentina is a beautiful person, so talented, sensitive and cheerful. She has been a perfect child so far, which is a lot to ask from a teenager under regular circumstances, imagine under the circumstances we are living in Venezuela!
Here she is performing for her school's friends and parents, at a local theater
She also taught herself to play the keyboard. Here she is working on her Queen songs. She can spend hours in her room just working on her art or musical projects.
We may not have the means now to give her her Quinceañera party, but we have much love for her to store. Better times will come, my darling, and you will have full-grown wings to fly.
