Connie turned 100 last week, so we threw her a birthday party!   “This means a lot because I know they went through a lot of trouble. I didn’t expect anything like this. I used to attend events [hosted by Catholic Charities of Central Florida’s Senior Wellness Services], but I can’t anymore. It’s hard for me. Now I just go in the car for a little ride for the scenery.   My secret to making it 100? My glass of wine every night! I even asked the doctor about it, and he said, ‘Keep it up. You’re doing good.’”  …

“I saw a lot of families, and I think it’s always of a reminder of how pain is universally human. My pain is differently than these people’s, but they’re still in pain, and if I can do something to alleviate that, then I want to do it. Hunger is such a basic human thing—most people don’t think about it—but there are a lot of people that need to think about where their next meal is coming from, what they’re going to be doing for dinner tonight, and a lot of kids go to bed hungry. To me, if I can…

“I spent seven days sleeping in the jungle in Panama. It was very hard for me because I never went through this. I had to sleep on the floor with the ants biting my skin. You try to be calm because you cannot move. If you move, basically any animal can bite you—like a snake. It was a new experience for me. The United States, for me, was new. Everything was new because I used to be a teacher in Cuba, but when I saw how people speak here, it was faster. I was so confused. I started by cleaning…