My family ties are colorful and from different continents. This truly makes me a world citizen. I will try to describe my family concisely, but if you were to meet me in person, it would take forever.
My family tree is a mixture of varying countries and cultures. Dutch, Jewish, German, Scottish, Italian, and French blood are from my mother’s side alone. My father is mixed Colombian (and I’m proud to mention that my grandmother was a Wayu Indian) and Philippine blood.
My mother’s roots start with a German count who dared to cross the ocean and fell in love with one of his slaves, who bore a child. The German acknowledged this child by changing his name and buying out his great love. These descendants married a Jewish family a few generations later, and, voilà, these were my mother’s parents. My father’s mother was a young Indian girl sold to a wealthy Filipino family to be a housemaid.
I am an authentic person. I have gotten to know myself in a way that makes me honest to myself and everyone around me. Without hurting anyone, I learned to speak from my heart and explain what something means to me by using the right words.
The most beautiful part of aging is a softer look at people, trying to meet them without judgment. I like to keep their background and stories in mind. Every situation, all human behavior, and the way a person deals with things are a direct cause of things. This helps me see someone else as a fellow citizen of earth, regardless of their skin color, culture, or background.
The hardest thing about aging is knowing that you will have to say goodbye to the people you love. That is what bothers me the most about getting older. And also my inevitable death, of course. We all will face this situation eventually. But I am alive now, and I want to enjoy its full extent.
I actually feel ageless, timeless. Age only means a few numbers to me. If I have to add a number to my age, I would sometimes say 20, sometimes 30 or 40, but never older than that. I don’t feel old at all, wouldn’t know how you should feel then. I feel like I have more life experiences than years ago. When I look at childhood photos and compare, I see a dark curly head appear in the background. A diamond color emerges, what richness. I love myself, cherish the days. I am alive now; I feel powerful, healthy, and still move mountains. I have so much energy. I am a passionate and lust for life person.
I am well aware that it will become less and less like an old tree that loses its leaves. But I have lived intensely.
Emilia’s Instagram handle @emiliateloosoto
