LIFE GIVES HER LEMONS, SHE CHOOSES TO MAKE THE BEST LEMONADE

The Story of Rina Randrade This story is for Rina, who is my subject of the story, also a friend of mine to remind her how wonderful a lady she is.

She jumps into the dancing pool. She starts to get a little sweat coming down from her face. But she keeps her eyes closed and her body moving. She shakes her dark pink hairs enjoying the amazing moment of her day.

You can hardly overlook her while walking down the street at Calle Ocho, the main street in Little Havana community, seeing her in the leopard pants and boots. She wears sophisticated make-up all the time and you will never see her not being beautiful.

Every week, you will notice a well-dressed lady dancing at the Bayside market in Downtown Miami.

Every week, you will run into a lady wandering besides the jewelry stands, appreciating all pieces of the inexpensive but special accessories.

Sometimes you can overhear a laugh from the domino park in Calle Ocho. If you see a lady stop at a random shop where comes out a piece of joyful music, and start to dance to the music, that must be her. You may not agree with her fashion taste, however, you will not forget the confidence in her eyes and the bright smile on her face.

“When I was a nurse, I couldn’t stop thinking about taking off my uniform and put on a colorful dress everyday”, she says, “The nurse uniform is so boring. ”

Rina Randrade, 58, who was born in Cuba, was once an engineer and a nurse. She lives around the Little Havana community in Miami, Florida. She married to a Spanish businessman when she was at her 20s. Her husband died two years ago.

“He told me, when he left, I would be missing him so much”, Randrade says, “I found him absolutely right about that.” The tears are wandering in her red eyes. She has to pauses for a while before she continues.

Randrade had a wonderful marriage life. Her husband was a businessman dealing with real estate. When she was with him, she led a casual and worry-free life, though moving constantly was the significant part of her life, from Los Angeles to Seattle, from Honolulu to Spain, from Hawaii to Miami. During the time when she lived in Los Angeles, two limos parked at her yard and had a well-trained dog as her accompany. Countless luxury jewelry and some fur coats which made people jealous but are just part of her life.

Randrade was not a princess but an independent lady. She didn’t lose herself in the fantasy life her husband’s wealth brought to her, instead she worked hard to reach certain satisfaction of achievement. Not only did she get involved with her husband business, but also chased her own career as a nurse later in her life. Scratching from zero to becoming a qualified nurse took all her efforts. Sometimes after she retired, Randrade would always love to offer professional suggestions to people around with pain.

“When you are really into certain things, you work hard and go for it”, Randrade says, “If you want to be a nurse, remember all the medical terms.”

The experience of being a nurse taught Randrade how to adjust her body to a healthy situation. She enjoys doing exercise, no matter it’s walking at the park she used to hang around with her husband or stretching to relax her body at gym.

Randrade knows more than that about life.

From every corner of her house, you can sense her passion for life, even though after her husband died, she moved into an attached house with limited space and pays her rent with her retirement compensation. There is a corner where is placed with Buda statues at which she also does her meditation everyday.

Filled with a brown cloth sofa, pile of well-organized Cuban decoration beside a modern picture with the portrait of Marilyn Monroe, Randrade’s house reflects who she is. When walking into her bedroom, you will get a taste of another side of her. Randrade doesn’t have a light installed in her bedroom but often lights some candles to throw a light to her black gauze over her bed. On the bed is her dark purple bedding. The little messy storage room is filled with her belongings that witness the details of her past life. The feeling of slightly messy in her house makes the limited space a home.

Thanks to her dressing table where she spends some time with everyday, she never shows up without any make-up on.

“If you see me with a very sophisticated make-up, either I’m in a good mood, or I am trying to cover the misery feeling in my heart.”

The lady who goes to dance and social in the Cuban activity center every week, or shows up in domino park chatting with her friends never appears to be in a blue mood. However, life is never easy to all of us.

Randrade moved on to her new life after having been trough the loss of her husband. She dated a black man.

“My friend and family called me and kept asking me if the guy I was dating was really that black”, she says, “I laughed and told them don’t be ridiculous. We live in the modern time.”

Randrade’s mother is Cuban while her father is from England. And also her son, Alex used to date a Chinese girl. Living in such a diverse environment changed her perspectives of seeing the culture mixture. She embraces different cultures with an open attitudes. She never felt uncomfortable of dating a color man.

“What matters is the personality of this guy, rather than his color.” Randrade says.

In spite of her open mind, it didn’t help this relationship to go further. She had been through the phase which everyone may experience when they lost their love. Randrade hadn’t eaten or left her house for the entire week.

No matter it’s her personality or habits that brought her back from the misery, she seems never to be a man who gives up. With the determination of putting herself together, Randrade decided to disappear from the old life and get out of her house to be close to nature. She went to Buda shop to seek the inner peace deeply in her heart.

“The one I want to say thank you to is my husband”, she says, “He gave me a lot of good influences. He never took failure as an option. Once failed, he wouldn’t be sad but bounced back with even better achievements.”

Who else never stops supporting her is her son Alex.

He works at a restaurant in Wynwood Art District who has two children with his wife. Alex always drops by her house and spends some time with her, or brings the whole family. They sit on the couch chatting, sometimes they are holding each other’s hands without even notice. Alex helps his mother to fix the cable and check her email.Occasionally you will see Randrade’s children being all over her, talking and laughing.

Sometimes Randrade visits her aunts and her old friend from barbershop she used to have her hair done. She is never alone.

“I don’t like to stay at home with myself, I enjoy going out to spend times with my friends and family.” She says.