Yahaira l. reyes

in her own words…

I was a sad baby that cried daily. A dreamer and shy child afraid of everyone and everything.  A bullied ugly duckling in school and neighbourhood. A best friend.  An honours student and winner of a bronze medal for a short story written in high school. A late bloomer having my first kiss at 18 with a member of a rock band in the Dominican Republic while in college - a cliché. A lawyer who hated practising law.  A master’s degree student with social justice dreams, who underperformed in her 20s due to boy issues.

An unhappy wife. A legal assistant way in over my head. A sales representative who realised she was basically working for the “devil” in a pharmaceutical company.  An unemployed struggling writer.  A writer with some published articles.  A girl loving the worst person to love. A pro-choice supporter with her own personal experience. A customer service representative that can totally relate to the horror stories of crazy customers we’ve all heard.

A spiritual practitioner of Vipassana who experienced the beauty of being in silence and meditating for days on end. A traveller discovering the joy of travelling alone.  A Dutch speaker ready for the next step. A very fortunate woman with beautiful and kind friends in and outside Ireland.

A woman without a mom who saw the heart-breaking and ravaging effects of dementia.  A connoisseur of depression and suicidal thoughts that sought help before it was too late. A former Pieta client who will be forever grateful.  A 40-year-old.  A lover, partner and unofficial stepmom.  A childless mother. A mature student. A writer.

Read Yahaira’s ‘A Woman in her Heyday’ feature here…