La Bandida

My brother Danny and his lovely Cuban wife Mirley have been blessed with three healthy daughters, two of which are in school already. They have been dividing their time between Cuba and Canada since they were born and the first two are fully bilingual. Their baby sister Amanda is almost 2 ½ yrs old now and has been slow to talk, but I’m told that she’s now starting to spout quite a few words, although she was reluctant to speak in English (unlike her older sisters) for awhile. My sister in law left the girls with my brother recently since she had to travel outside of Canada on a personal matter, and of course the family was all too willing to help out with childcare while she was gone. My sister Kelley was telling me that she invited the older sisters to her house for a sleepover. I asked her if the youngest sister, Amanda, was too scared to stay overnight, or was she just too young. I haven’t seen her since March and the last time I saw her in person she was still pretty quiet, a bit of a Mama’s girl. Much to my surprise Kelley said she’s turned into a hellion since then. She said she’s wild, you can’t reign in her energy. Her sisters call her “La Bandida” (the bandit). So she got to stay home with Grammie and Dad. I’m really looking forward to seeing my nieces this fall and am really grateful that our families have been able to seamlessly blend work, study, and life between Cuba and Canada. It’s a tremendous experience for these girls to be able to fully experience two cultures, two languages, two school systems, and two completely different sets of friends as they play, learn and grow up.