FOR THE ONE OR TWO OF YOU OUT THERE POSSIBLY INTERESTED IN FACTS, THE TRUTH, THE FOLLOWING IS A COPY OF MICHAEL MAYO'S ONE AND ONLY ARTICLE IN THE JULY 15, 2009 EDITION OF THE SUN-SENTINELSupreme Court nominee keeps it real with South Florida family, friendsMARGATE
When Sonia Sotomayor visits her mom, which is often, it usually doesn't take long before they end up at Floresther Rios' condo.
"She goes right to the kitchen, and goes right for the Cuban coffee," Rios said Wednesday.
Sotomayor takes hers strong, without sugar.
This is where the woman poised to become the next U.S. Supreme Court justice comes to keep it real: with her mother, Celina, and her mom's tight circle of friends in the Palm Springs III senior community.
"Even though she's on her way to the Supreme Court, she's going to come back here and still be the same Sonia, the one who can't wait to cook up a batch of arroz con gondules," said Rios' daughter, Ari Rodriguez.
Rice with pigeon peas is the Puerto Rican national dish. Rodriguez said it is Sotomayor's specialty.
As senators and Sotomayor stick to their scripts during this week's kabuki performance known as her confirmation hearing, I got a tiny sense of Sotomayor the person by driving to her mother's neighborhood on Wednesday.
Celina Sotomayor and her husband, Omar Lopez, are in Washington, D.C., for the week, sitting in the front row at the hearings.
Before she left, Celina gave Rios two prayer candles to light on Sonia's behalf, one for Tuesday and one for Wednesday.
"Don't forget to light those candles," Celina told her when she phoned from Washington on Monday.
On Wednesday, the second candle burned on a plate in the kitchen windowsill.
"Celina is like a good sister to me," said Rios, who turned 87 last week.
Rios, originally from Cuba, bonded with Celina Sotomayor, who is Puerto Rican, soon after Rios moved into the complex five years ago. Celina has lived there 15 years.
Rios said she hosts a coffee klatch nearly every afternoon for Celina, 82, and neighbor Sylvia Gutierrez, 78. Sometimes Rodriguez sits in. So does Sonia Sotomayor, 55, when she's in town.
Rodriguez said the judge listens more than talks.
"She's smart and humble," Rodriguez said. "She has a heart for everybody."
Rodriguez said she had a two-hour talk with Celina Sotomayor the other week to learn more about her past. Many have heard how Celina raised two children as a single mother after the death of her first husband. She worked multiple nursing jobs, lived in a public housing project in the Bronx and stressed education, sending her kids to Catholic schools.
What Rodriguez didn't know is that Celina lost her mother when she was young in Puerto Rico and was raised by an older sister. The family was so poor they often had no food.
"She told me the only friend she had growing up was a book," Rodriguez said.
As soon as Celina turned 18, during World War II, she joined the Women's Army Corps as a nurse. She left Puerto Rico, trained in New Jersey and ended up in New York.
Apparently family, food and traditions play big roles in Sonia Sotomayor's world outside court.
Rodriguez told me how Sonia Sotomayor spends nearly every Christmas with her mother, helping to prepare the Noche Buena feast that neighbors enjoy.
Rios told how she makes flan for Sonia Sotomayor every time she visits, most recently two months ago, shortly before President Barack Obama announced her as a Supreme Court nominee.
The television wasn't on when I stopped by on Wednesday. Rodriguez, 65, was getting ready to go to work as a manager at CVS. She was recording the hearing and would watch it at night.
"I got so upset (Tuesday) -- some of those senators were really rough on her," said Rodriguez. "But did you see Sonia? She was so calm. That's the way she always is."
Rodriguez said Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation will mean the world to Hispanics, not because the first Hispanic Supreme Court judge will apply the law differently but simply because it shows that anything is possible.
"This is the country of opportunity," Rodriguez said.
"This is something great for us," said Rios. "The next time I see Sonia, I'm going to give her a big hug."
And a big plate of flan.
Michael Mayo can be reached at
mmayo@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4508.
