Wiser With Age

Tag: advice

  • In My Mother’s Words: Giving credit where credit is due

    In My Mother’s Words: Giving credit where credit is due


    A woman with short hair wearing red necklace.

    One day a colleague was telling two of us a story about a good friend’s daughter who was getting married. He said the reception was going to be at a venue where coincidentally his cousin works. As the conversation evolved, he told us that his cousin just so happened to give said friend a discount. The cousin gave the discount out of the goodness of his heart, it had nothing to do with my colleague. However, my colleague told his friend it was his doing!

    I looked at him and said, “Wait, so you took credit for it, and it had nothing to do with you?†He laughingly replied, “You bet I did.†I looked at the other colleague (one of my favorites) in disbelief and repeated my mother’s words:

    “Mira a este saludando con sombrero ajeno.â€

               (Loosely translated: Look at this guy greeting with someone else’s sombrero.)

    Maybe it’s because I’m a journalist, but how are you going to go around take credit for something you didn’t earn? My mom is the type of woman who is there for everyone and never expects any credit. (But, that doesn’t mean that when someone else takes credit for her doings she won’t call me and chatter about it. #Hispanicmoms)

    The best thing out of that whole conversation was my colleague laughing and telling me I needed to start writing down all of my mother’s phrases and words of wisdom. Here we are! And here I am giving credit where credit is due.

    A woman with short hair wearing red necklace.Victoria Moll-Ramirez is a broadcast journalist based in Atlanta, GA. She is originally from Miami, FL and had the great fortune of being raised by the sassiest, spunkiest, wisest, most hysterical Honduran woman in the world. Victoria’s mother, Bélgica, is 60-years-old, resides in Little Havana (Miami) and enjoys a good margarita accompanied by a heartrending ranchera. Victoria blogs about her mom’s funny and wise sayings on, “In My Mother’s Words.â€

  • In My Mother’s Words: What’s done is done

    In My Mother’s Words: What’s done is done


    A woman with short hair wearing red necklace.

    My mom is pretty pragmatic. She doesn’t dwell and tries to finds solutions rather than sit there and overanalyze. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m quite the dweller. I’ll think of a solution and get it handled in the moment, but then I’ll go back after the fact and think, overanalyze, ruminate, question and drive myself crazy.

    Most people say they don’t have regrets because every decision they’ve made has made them the person they are. Sooner or later you’re supposed to always get an answer to your “why,†right? I’m currently at a phase in my life where I have an unanswered “why.†Of course, in my domino effect of a brain lacking the answer to this “why†connects to many things, even my car. Yes, I’m that much of a looney tune. Hey, at least I’m self-aware!

    When I was talking to my mom about this she said to me:

    Agua pasada no mueve molino.

              (Bygone streams don’t power windmills.)

    Honestly, I don’t know when in her life she’s ever, if ever, lived near a windmill or where this refrán (saying) came from. What I will say is that when she said this to me it rattled my mind, and I laughed. Point is, she made me feel better by referencing some mythical windmill, and it was a nice reminder of why I go to her.

    She doesn’t have an answer for everything, because no one does, but she always pulls through with just the right words.

    A woman with short hair wearing red necklace.Victoria Moll-Ramirez is a broadcast journalist based in Atlanta, GA. She is originally from Miami, FL and had the great fortune of being raised by the sassiest, spunkiest, wisest, most hysterical Honduran woman in the world. Victoria’s mother, Bélgica, is 60-years-old, resides in Little Havana (Miami) and enjoys a good margarita accompanied by a heartrending ranchera. Victoria blogs about her mom’s funny and wise sayings on, “In My Mother’s Words.â€

  • In My Mother’s Words: When I played a practical joke on my mother

    In My Mother’s Words: When I played a practical joke on my mother


    A woman with short hair wearing red necklace.

    My last semester in college I was the morning show intern at a Spanish language radio station. One of the segments on the morning show was called “Oye Que Te Cojo†(“Hey, I got you.”) Basically, fans would call in with ideas for a prank call and the main host would execute it and play it on air. Well, one day he asked me why we didn’t play a practical joke on my mom. I was ALL for it.

    We started brainstorming, and he suggested maybe telling my mom I was pregnant. I told him she wouldn’t believe that. However, the one thing my mom ALWAYS worries about is drinking and driving. That was it! I would call my mom and tell her I got pulled over and arrested for a DUI.

    The next day, I called her and told her I had gotten pulled over after a night out. I put on my best crying voice, exaggerated the story, and said I argued with the cop and even flicked him off. It was two weeks before graduation and I told her I didn’t know if I’d be allowed to graduate. NOT ONCE did she get mad. All she kept saying was:

    Ayyy Victoria! Por qué, Victoria?! Por qué?!

             (Ohhh Victoria! Why, Victoria?! Why?!)

    Then, in the middle of it all, the host of the morning show starts talking to her about the situation without even introducing himself. The most bizarre thing was the fact she didn’t question who this strange man talking to her was! He finally told her it was just a prank, and none of it was true. Poor thing. When I called her, after the fact, she told me when she answered my call she was driving and had to pull over because she got cold sweats.

    What I will say is that was a reminder of the unconditional love my mom has for us. She could’ve lost her mind, she would’ve had every right to. She wasn’t mad – she was disappointed, which is arguably worse. She didn’t yell, curse or condemn me. Knowing her, she was racking her brain to figure out how to fix this for her daughter – a daughter who pulled a horrible prank on her mother for thousands of people in the city of Orlando to hear.

    You can listen to the audio (in Spanish) here.

    A woman with short hair wearing red necklace.Victoria Moll-Ramirez is a broadcast journalist based in Atlanta, GA. She is originally from Miami, FL and had the great fortune of being raised by the sassiest, spunkiest, wisest, most hysterical Honduran woman in the world. Victoria’s mother, Bélgica, is 60-years-old, resides in Little Havana (Miami) and enjoys a good margarita accompanied by a heartrending ranchera. Victoria blogs about her mom’s funny and wise sayings on, “In My Mother’s Words.â€

  • In My Mother’s Words: On being independent

    In My Mother’s Words: On being independent


    A woman with short hair wearing red necklace.

    I’ve always been terrible at building things. I’m impatient and try to skip steps.

    Recently, I moved into a new home and decided to give this building furniture thing a try. Not only did I build my dresser all by myself, but I built my bed frame as well! I felt like it was a victory for all womankind!

    Granted, it’s not suffrage or anything, but with the help of Romeo Santos and some determination I got the job done! (Full disclosure: My male roommate totally volunteered to help me. When I told him I had finished it, he was “hurt and excited,†because it was supposed to be a “community project.†I told him it wasn’t personal and reassured him it was me and not him.)

    After I built my dresser and told a friend he said me, “I’m always impressed with you.†Building furniture is nothing impressive, but I think he reacted this way because he’s always complimented me on how independent I am. I grew up in a home where my mom painted the house on her own, she checked the oil in her car and even changed her tires. She never waited on anyone, and she never asked anyone for help. She always said she didn’t want to inconvenience others.

    My mother has always told me:

    Naciste sola y vas a morir sola.

    (You were born by yourself, and you’re going to die by yourself.)

    Are these words harsh? Yeah. Are they true? Yes. By no means did she give me this advice so I would think I’d spend my final days alone. She said this so I would learn to be independent and not wait on others to make decisions or to do things. Today was one of those days I found myself repeating those words.

    This phrase has molded me beyond words. I love to vacation alone. I love challenging myself. To a certain point, I even love doubting myself. It’s like one side of my brain taunts the other and says, “You can’t do this.†Meanwhile, the other defiantly replies, “Watch me.â€

    My mother is a woman who has done it ALL by herself. I don’t know if I can be at her level, but I can sure as hell try!

    A woman with short hair wearing red necklace.Victoria Moll-Ramirez is a broadcast journalist based in Atlanta, GA. She is originally from Miami, FL and had the great fortune of being raised by the sassiest, spunkiest, wisest, most hysterical Honduran woman in the world. Victoria’s mother, Bélgica, is 60-years-old, resides in Little Havana (Miami) and enjoys a good margarita accompanied by a heartrending ranchera. Victoria blogs about her mom’s funny and wise sayings on, “In My Mother’s Words.â€

  • From a career in advertising to shedding light on Israeli inventions

    From a career in advertising to shedding light on Israeli inventions


    A woman with short hair wearing red necklace.
    Marcella Rosen speaking at the Untold News Awards ceremony at the Harmonie Club in New York City on November 12, 2014. (Photo/ Jacqueline Iannacone)

    When Marcella Rosen is passionate about any issue, she makes sure it is known – not in a pushy or obstinate manner, but in a “Can you believe it?†way.

    After the native New Yorker graduated from Barnard College, she earned a masters in clinical psychology from Columbia University while working at night. It was then she realized she wanted to pursue business. The daughter of an orthodox rabbi, and professor, ended up having a 35-year award-winning career in advertising.

    “I called up the heads of research at three advertising firms,†says Rosen about how she landed her first job in advertising. “I got three interviews, and I ended up getting the most interesting job…Advertising was a crazy world, but it was a very exciting time. I loved going to work.â€

    While at N.W. Ayer, she worked on famous accounts like AT&T’s “Reach Out and Touch Someone†ad in the late 1980’s. However, the campaign closest to her heart throughout her long career, she says, was the one that got 13 percent more women to vote in 1992. Rosen says the historic ad was a photo of a woman without a mouth, with the caption, “Most politicians still feel women should be seen and not heard.â€

    Now retired from advertising, Rosen continues to pursue another cause full-time which she has been working on for more than a decade – raising awareness of the innovative work occurring in Israel. In 2010, she founded the non-profit/news website Untold News (which has a large following on Facebook), and two years later, she wrote the best-selling book, “Tiny Dynamo,â€Â which talks about 21 of the many life-altering technological contributions Israel is making from airport security procedures that use psychology to making ocean water drinkable.

    “There’s a pill which has a tiny camera inside it – you swallow it, and it takes pictures of your intestines and beams them back to your doctor’s computer,†says Rosen, excitedly. “One of my other favorites, which is more personal, is freezing breast tumors…You don’t need surgery. You do it in a doctor’s office and go back to work. [These innovations] help all of us.â€

    She says the country has a “can do†culture, despite its political strife.

    “You think how much better life would be if all these wars stopped,†says Rosen. “Last summer, I was there, and at the same time we were having dinner, there were bomb sirens. You have to get up, and then after 10 minutes you go back and finish your dinner.â€

    However despite it all, she continues, “Israel has helped 52 countries in need from Haiti to sending doctors to the U.S. after Hurricane Sandy…and has made a disproportionate amount of inventions for being the size of New Jersey. It shows what human beings can do when they have to.â€

    As far as what piece of life advice she would give her younger self now?

    “It’s always important to try. I’d rather not succeed than to not have tried,†says Rosen, who is also a pilot on her free time. “We can’t change the world, but in our own spheres we can make a difference. I care about women, and I care about unfairness…and I want to spread that as much as I can.â€