My Story

I was born in the Dominican Republic in Caribbean, near the beach, an area full of palm trees, coconuts, bright sun, clear skies, and clear blue ocean water. I moved to the United States with my entire immediate family seeking a better future in 1999, and we became a US Citizens a few years later. Coming from a Caribbean country, opportunities to grow are very limited. My parents knew that by coming to the United States, they would be able to provide for us a more comfortable life, and an education and career opportunities, we could only dream of achieving where I was born. I’m fortunate enough to enjoy having dual citizenship, and will ensure your child does as well. I still vacation there a lot - there’s something about being on a white sandy beach that just renews your soul! I still have some family there. My cousin, Michelle who still lives there, just had a baby named Avril recently and she can’t wait to meet the baby I hope to adopt! Growing up, I was always surrounded by family and this would be true for your child as well, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. My cousins were and are my best friends. I was very grateful to have had my grandmother, Carmen, whom I nicknamed Mema with me at all times. She was my babysitter and my accomplice! Now, my mom is looking forward to being the same for the child who I am blessed to adopt. My mom lives close-by and is going to come stay with me when I adopt. My grandma was an amazing support system for me, and embedded a lot of my core values. She never judged anyone and was always there for everyone. I know my mother is hoping the child I am fortunate to adopt will feel this way about her. Family has always been very important to me and along with its traditions. Growing up in the Caribbean, Christmas was so important to us. I remember the whole country shut down from December 15th until after January 6th. Our whole extended family used to all, and still does (but we rotate houses), gather around the table to have dinner on Christmas eve, all the adults cook, our typical Christmas dinner, that would consist of empanadas, roasted pork, Russian potato salad, rice with chick peas, croquettes, beans, roasted chicken, and oh my god so much more! and all the kids are outside helping with the decorations and start staring at the gifts making bets as to what was inside the box. We believe in “ El Dia de Reyes” or the “Day of the Kings” which happens on January 6th (3 kings’ day) which was the Day baby Jesus received his gifts form the three wise man, so that was the day we got to open ours! Just imagine the suspense of staring at those gifts for so long. Now, Christmas presents are opened on Christmas Day but the thing was, that unlike in the United States, we did not exchange gifts on Christmas! I did not even know who Santa Clause was until we moved to the United States.! Decorating the tree for Christmas is still one of my most cherished holiday activities. I dream about having a child to help me with this tradition, and even making our tree, his or her tree. Presently– my nephews, Aaron, Gabriel and Marcos now come to my house every year to help me decorate my tree. In the beginning of December, between me, my sister and mom, exchange ornaments between our houses. My nephews traditionally make ornaments by themselves, and at least a few of them end up in each of our trees. Their faces light up with pride every time they see their creations in our trees. They are looking forward to being able to teach a baby cousin how to make ornaments, and join the pack! A family tradition that I didn’t realize was even a tradition, until a few years after, was me and my nephews singing in the car. It started by accident as me trying to get them to talk about themselves to me, and I would pick some songs from my childhood and I just started singing. They would immediately start singing themselves, and after the song ended, they would start talking about everything! Next thing you know, the next time they got in my car, they’d instantly ask me “ Uncle BeeBee” (Aaron gave me that nick name since he couldn’t say David when he was 1 year old, and now all three call me that) “put this song on! You’ll love it!” –Next thing you know, my car became Karaoke time. Group birthday calls also became a thing! My whole family gets into a video call to call the birthday person together on their day! They all start singing as loud as they can, with the worse pitch you can imagine! Birthday Breakfast. Whoever’s birthday it is, they will be treated like kings/queens for the day. It would usually start with breakfast. We make pancakes, sausages, French toast, scrambled eggs, and lots and lots of syrup! That day, the kids are usually in charge of the cooking, under stove supervision and it turns out super yummy! Pizza & Pasta Day! Making pizza dough and pasta from scratch! Along with picking our own tomatoes and making our own sauce. I had a very happy childhood and this is very important for me to provide, full of memories of my cousins, and grandparents, always being around each other. We later moved to the United States in 1999, as we knew being US Citizens would unlock a world of opportunities, we wouldn’t have instant access to in the Dominican Republic. This was thanks to Mema, who was a US Citizen, of course I had no idea what was going on, I was just happy to be here. It became a little challenging to learn the language,(since my first language is Spanish) as well as taking math, science, social studies while learning the language simultaneously. Learning languages became such an interesting thing to me, that I’m now fully bi-lingual (English and Spanish), and learning Italian now, and I would raise your child to speak as many languages as they can. Even though my parents divorced shortly after we moved to the United States, and lived in different states (Mom in New York and Dad in Orlando, Florida – near Disney World), we all still maintain such a close relationship that its almost like it never happened, minus the proximity of course. Funny enough, my parents being divorced, now get a long so much better, and are each other’s best friends. Whenever we spend time with either of them alone, they just complain how the other hasn’t called them in the last couple of days to see how they are. They both have their own partners, and whenever we get together, it’s such an amazing sight, that everyone actually gets along and looks after each other. Its so close that both my mom and dad go through a summer kid trading, where my half brother spends the summers with my dad, and my half sister spends the summers with my mom, even though they have no blood relation! This just goes to show just how my family functions. There’s really no need to be blood bound to take care of those we truly care about. Both my parents knew the importance of family, and never wanted our half siblings to feel like they were not part of each other’s family. Of course, this also means that your child will have double the grandparents fighting to spoil your child too. I have 2 sisters and a brother, Diana, Aliana & Daniel. Daniel is in college and Aliana just graduated from college and Diana is the oldest of us three Diana has three boys, whom I adore wholeheartedly and I have been a big part of their lives since birth. One’s a young teenager by now, and can’t wait for a new baby. My sister Diana and are so close that I was at the birth of all three inside the hospital room. Apparently, my brother-in-law thought it was him giving birth, and they had to get him a bed of his own during my nephews’ births. It has all been a privilege for me to be there for my nephews’ births, unique each time. My mom has literally lived right next door to my sister from the moment she had her first baby, and she is also close to mine. Her and my dad, Victor, are the kind of people that would drop everything, just to take care of their grandbabies. I get teased a lot by my family as they all think I’m my “parent’s favorite” and when I have a kid, I’m sure they’ll forget about the whole world and just focus on the baby - so I’m basically giving everyone a head start with their own families, because they know once there is a baby in my house, they will forget about the whole world and just focus on the baby with me. I’m super fortunate that I have lived and worked in many parts of the United States. I fell in love with traveling, exploring other cultures, architectures, religions and people. There is something so fascinating about how we all think different cultures are so different, but the more you learn about them, you find more and more similarities right down to the core. I’ve been to over 15 countries in my personal travels, and over 30 US states. Those experiences have shaped me, and sparked my curiosity to learn, and I look forward to sharing that perspective and the gift of travel and exploration with my your child. I have a variety of interests, which have nothing to do with one another. I love cooking and exploring different recipes, styles, flavors! Music is also super important to me. I think that had to do with the fact that my mom is a lover of music. It was always fun seeing my mom clean the house while dancing the whole time and me behind her making a mess. So there will always be music playing in the background. Painting, dancing and home improvements are other things I enjoy doing! I recently started making upgrades to the house, and have been thinking on how a nursery and child’s bedroom would look like. As you know by now, my life has always been surrounded by children. I have four god children, whom I’m heavily involved in their lives. I’m also a dog lover – my dog Marshal is amazing with children. When he was born, my youngest nephew was 2 years old, and they have been each other’s best friend ever since. He’s learned to be gentle with people, specially kids and just fill people with kisses and hugs! I’ve had a very successful career in real estate management and work from home so I can be a very present dad. I also own my own Commercial Janitorial Company that I started myself years ago and now my staff run it completely. My career has given me the opportunity to interact with people from all backgrounds and financial situations. Even though my job multitasks a lot, I know my most important job in life will be Daddy! I’m fortunate to be financially secure so I can be there for this child.