My Heart – Bernarda Moronta

BY Led Black (@Led_Black)

Long live Dominican moms! I feel extremely fortunate to have been born to a Dominican mother. For those that don’t know, Dominican mothers in particular and Latino mothers in general, are much more than mothers to their children especially their boys.

Throughout my life, my mom has been my confidante, my seamstress, my lawyer, my personal chef and all around make-it-alright person. Whether it’s heartbreak, legal or financial issues, my mother has always been there to fix whatever woes I have encountered. I am who I am because of her. If I were to write a memoir it would be entitled El Hijo de Bernarda Moronta (The Son of Bernarda Moronta).

My mother left her beloved DR back in the late 1960’s not for her sake but that of her children. She came with nothing but somehow was able to raise 2 young men that escaped most of the worst that Washington Heights dished out. She instilled in me a love of DR, reading and the notion that it is imperative to treat everyone you meet with kindness and respect.

Even though I no longer live in that little apartment in the 190’s on Wadsworth Ave, it still feels like home. When I’m there I am transplanted to my youth. I sit down at the dinner table a plate of delicious food magically appears. When I’m done eating it just as magically disappears, followed by a steaming cup of coffee. I don’t have to do the dishes. I don’t have to lift a finger. It’s mom’s house and in mom’s house I am king. Thanks mom for being the greatest mother a person can have. Thank you for being you!

Check out: My Space – Bernarda Moronta

Related:

My Heart: Happy Birthday Imani!

My Heart: Happy Birthday Leila!

My Heart: Happy Birthday Soraya!

We invite you to subscribe to the Uptown Love newsletter, like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter, or e-mail us at [email protected].

You Might Also Like

  • Ricardo matos
    September 12, 2013 at 5:57 pm

    you are correct my brother, there’s no one like our mother, she does all and everything for us without hesitation and never ask for anything in return, God bless all the mothers in the world specially ours. i love all your articles about dominican life and our way of doing what’s right for our country and comunity abroad.lets continue to encourage our youths to go to school and take advantage of all the opportunities offer to us by this great country.as a retired law enforcement officer whom came to this country, with a sogita as a belt holding my pants, i feel proud of what i have accomplished. may God bless you and please continue to inform our comunity and the world that not all of us come here to fail or to commit crimes, i’m a great example of what we can achieve if we set our great mind to achieve the american dream.

  • Carlos 391 Rincon
    May 8, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    I have to agree Led, growing up in the heights as a so called” outsider “being half Costa Rican and Colombian. I can attest to what you write about Dominican mothers.. The majority of my child hood friends including yourself were all Dominican.. The way my friends mothers embraced me was a life learning memory that has stayed with me through out my life. The love Domincan mothers show their children especially their boys is a beautiful thing to witness.. . I remember going to pick them up to play basketball , or go to school and always feel as if I was entering my own home. They would always greet me with such love as if I was their child. I look back as if it was just yesterday them asking me to enter their apt sit down in the “sala”. They would bring me juice ask if I wanted some morir sonando, or a Malta.. I will never forget eating mangu con queso Frito for the first time while picking up one of my boys in the morning before heading out to school..So I say say thank you to all those mothers on this Mother’s Day weekend.. Much love ..