Christmas Eve

Luz arrived in Tampa on Christmas Eve after a long journey from her village of Juanjui, Peru. She slept through much of the boat and plane rides over the 2 1/2 days of travel and arrived at Tampa Airport at 10:00 AM Christmas Eve. After a short rest period at the house, we headed to Sacred Heart Church in Tampa for the Childrens Christmas Pageant and Christmas Eve Mass.

Eliana arrived by train from Miami, where her flight from Peru landed yesterday but there was no connecting flight to Tampa. After mass we met Eli at the train station and headed back to the house for a waiting Christmas Eve dinner of Chicken, Yellow Rice, Black Beans and Tamales. It was good to have our little girl back with us again.

An artificial Christmas Tree had appeared but lacked any decorations. What better way to spend Christmas Eve than with those you love making decorations for a Christmas tree. More later.

Additional Thanks

Luz has friends in Jacksonville, Florida.
If you are hungry and in Jacksonville, FL, or anyplace within 100 miles of Jacksonville, it would be worth the effort to head to Piscos Restaurant. Sorry, no "Cuy", but everything else Peruvian can be found on the great menu, put together by Virginia and her staff. Evelyn or Elise will be happy to serve you. In my own opinion, the Parihuela is the best. While there, drop a donation in the jar for Luz.
Piscos Restaurant
Pescados, Mariscos y Comida Criolla
4131 Southside Blvd
Jacksonville, FL 32216
Tel: 904 646 3888

Additional locations where you can find donation containers have been established at:
Rene's Barbershop
306 W. Robertson Ave
Brandon
(near the SunTrust Drive thru)
See Teri or Rene for the best haircuts.
They made me look like Brad Pitt
Well.....almost...

The Young Texans Produce
South Parsons at Wheeler Road
Brandon
Only the best, Produce, Plants,
Paving Stones and Landscaping.
Their Boiled Peanuts are the best.

Thanks local merchants

Thanks are due to several local business establishments for their support of the Luz medical Expense Fund. Carisa Cannon, a writer for the Osprey Observer, located in Brandon,(http://www.ospreyobserver.com/), was kind enough to write an article about Luz and our efforts.

Also with offerings of support are several restaurants and cafes located in the Brandon/Tampa areas who have posted the flyer and a donation jar, shown on the right above.

Those locations are:

Sabero Latin Cuisine

(Not a typical Spanish Restaurant)

MLK Blvd & Lakewood Rd.

Mango, Florida

Liborios Latin Cafe

813-623-1318

http://www.liborioslatincafe.com/

8210 Causeway Blvd

Tampa, FL

Tapas Restaurant

813-621-8666

(Pinewood Business Park)

1202 Tech Blvd

Brandon, FL

LaCubanita Restaurant

813-661-2253

723 Lumsden Rd

Brandon, FL

I can personally attest to the quality and taste of their menu items. All have take out dinners and great food, cuban sandwiches and Cafe con Leche. So the next time you don't feel like cooking stop by, and drop a few bills in the jar for Luz.

Travel Delay for Luz

The latest information from Peru is that Luz arrival in Tampa will need to be delayed until later in the year, possibly late December or even January. There are some identification issues with the US Embassy in Lima that need to be arranged. Luz school teacher has also suggested that it would be best if Luz could finish the current school year, December 20, so she would not need to repeat a grade.
Please continue to consider your support for Luz and contributions to the expense fund set up for her. Information is provided in the right hand margin of this blog. Thanks for your continued interest.

Luz is returning to Tampa

October 20, 2008 is set for Luz first appointment back at Shriners Hospital. She is anxiously looking forward to visiting Tampa again. Although the date is set, there are still visa applications to process before we can officially say what date she will arrive. The US Embassy in Lima, Peru, holds that key.

Again I want to thank all who contributed to support the transportaion and living expenses of Luz and her Dad, Hilmer last year. We were able to feed Luz all the ice cream she could eat and sent them home with a small amount to help ease the strain of Hilmer being unable to run the family farm for the nine weeks they were here in Tampa. We hope you can again help provide the comfort to make them feel at home. Directions for contributions are listed on the right side of this blog. If you need additional information please feel free to call me at any time. Cell# 813-215-0071.

Goodbye Luz

Although today was a happy day, Luz was headed back to Peru, there were many tears. Yesterday, as they were packing many bags with clothing and gifts, Luz announced to everyone that when she leaves she did not want to see anyone crying. This, from a 5 year old little girl. If you have been following the entries in this blog since Luz arrived in Tampa, you are already aware that this kind of comment from Luz is not surprising. Her leaving also leaves a rather large hole in many hearts in the Tampa area.
Luz, whose name translated means 'Light', has been the light of our lives here in Tampa for the past nine weeks. If you did not have chance to visit with her, watch her, play with her, take her to the ice cream shoppe, shopping at Publix, the flea market, WalMart, you missed an opportunity that could very well remain with you forever. I know all of us here in Tampa as well as those we have met, through Luz, will not soon forget her. This is how we receive our compensation for all the work we put into this humanitarian work that we love. The best part is, Shriner's Hospital has accepted her as a patient as she grows and needs a new arm to match that growth. Over the next 13 years, we get to watch her grow and mature from a little five year old girl, playing with her "Dora the Explorer" doll into a young lady.
As we left for the drive to Tampa Airport, everyone was fine. We did our best to smile as kisses and hugs were passed to all who could not make the trip. Our little princess finally held back long enough and her tears flowed freely. She regained her composure and the rest of the day went well. Eli received a call from Hilmer that their plane to Lima was delayed in Miami but that they were finally ready to leave at 7:00 PM. When Eli and I got back to the house, Joanne was waiting for us. Gosh the place was quiet. Now, as I sit here and type this final entry into Luz' blog I think of the past nine weeks and how fast they seemed to pass. But our little girl will be back again next year, and we are already looking forward to it. I can't help but think of the words to a soft blues song by Joe Williams, the lyrics go like this: "Now she is gone and my heart is yearning, but a man ain't supposed to cry".

Dimples

I always wanted to meet a pretty girl, with dimples,

who would laugh at my jokes.