This Is What Sisterhood Looks Like

Sharing the love — Dancing Elephants Prompt (33 of 52)

Empoderar a las mujeres significa confiar en ellas. (To empower women is to trust them.) ~ Isabel Angélica Allende Llona, Feminist & Author

Sisterhood is a relatively new term for me. It’s not that I hadn’t heard of it before, it’s that I used to simply use ‘friend’ or ‘best friend.’

Last year, I met someone who brought the word to my vernacular.

Wendarlene and I met here in Borikén, at a cultural space on the archipelago’s northern coast (she was visiting with her husband and family; I was with my partner the day we met). Ours was a warm conversation about art, healing, and about what it meant to be ‘home’ (we’re both from New York City, born to Puerto Rican parents and we both have an intimate connection to our ancestral roots).

We exchanged numbers and kept in touch.

Fast forward a few months. Wendarlene would be back in Borikén and wanted to spend time together — just us two. Agreeing, I stayed with her at a local residence for two nights.

During that time, we spent many moments in nature — at the beach, by the river, having lunch under a palm tree.

We talked about many things:

* our love of Borikén and our vibrant culture * creative writing and poetry * how politics influenced our upbringing

Those two short days were filled with laughter, tears, and many reminders of what living fully means. This memory in particular is a special one. Wanting to experience our cultural tradition of bomba together, I suggested we head to a spot where they’d have a live performance.

That night, dressed in comfortable clothing (Wendarlene loan me a pair of beautiful colorful, handmade earrings), we set out to continue connecting with each other, as well as to support local creatives.

La Terraza de Bonanza is a small restaurant with outdoor seating and a stage area for events. We arrived around 9-ish and the place was already crowded. Grabbing each an adult beverage, we headed as close to the stage as possible.

Dancing, laughing, singing — we enjoyed every second of it (even when we didn’t know all of the chorus lyrics!) 😂 At one point, it got even more crowded so we moved to another area on the side of the stage nearest the street.

It was there that we met a poet, Tony. He treated us to one of his pieces about the life of a countryman (el jíbaro). Tony’s use of metaphor, the power of his voice, and his animated demeanor kept Wendarlene and me entranced. We each bought one of his CDs and I still keep in touch with him from time to time.

When it was time for us to leave, we hugged Tony and again thanked him for his gift of poetry, and for his kindness in sharing with us a piece of himself. On the drive back to the AirBnB, Wendarlene and I talked about how inspiring the night was. Sharing our thoughts and perspectives, we sensed our connection growing.

That brief time together forged the beginning of a special bond — one I continue to cherish and nurture. It is a space where I am comfortable and feel safe to share vulnerabilities. It is a relationship where we can disagree and express ourselves honestly, always with respect.

Through Wendarlene words, I am reminded of what it means to be non-biologically related, but still family nevertheless.

You are now more than a friend, somos hermanas (we are sisters).

Shout out to Dr. Preeti Singh for this prompt, to the team at DEP for this space, and to Amna fayyaz for this piece on prioritizing health.

It is a poem that (for me) serves as another reminder of the role of sisterhood in living my best life, fully and ‘truly alive.’