To understand me, you need to understand my father. Larry Sanchez Sr. was a very proud family man with strong ties to his cultural roots and community. He was so well known in his community he was often treated like a celebrity whenever mentioned in discussion amongst people who knew of him, but he was no celebrity at all. He was my father, my first prince charming, and he set the bar pretty high when it came to men and most of anything else I rushed to tackle.
I'm a lot like him. He and Momma always told me You are your father's daughter and I am. I am a replica of Larry Sanchez Sr. and I'm proud of it.
Daddy was such a light in everyone's lives. Did he have his flaws? Yes! Of course he did--we all do--but that's what made Daddy the once in a lifetime star he was. It was his funny, kind spirit and his willingness to just be naturally him without a second thought and complete disregard to any shame that may have been thrown his way. He was who he was and he never apologized for it.
He did apologize for hurting feelings, but never for making anyone uncomfortable especially when that was his intention. Daddy knew how to get a rise out of anyone, but he would mainly use those strengths and instincts for good--I like to consider these his superpowers.
So, for the year of 2026 I'm making a promise to myself of letting go and letting Dad. What does that mean exactly? Well, it means exactly what it states. I'm letting go of anything that doesn't bring me peace, joy, wealth or good health and I'm letting my inner Dad take over. After Daddy passed away I start asking myself,
"What would Daddy do?"
or
"How would Daddy respond?"
Alot of times that would cause more trouble than I would care to admit, but then I realized my father would have never wanted me to be him. He would have wanted me to be me, but use the morals him and my mom taught me and raised me to believe in. So instead I started asking myself,
"How would he want me to respond right now?"
This then lead to me finding my footing and discovering I'm still learning and working on me. I'm still growing and my feelings and expression of those feelings are valid--and NO ONE should be trying to silence my right to express myself.
So here I am. Blogging my feelings and thoughts--and I'm not apologizing for any of it. Everything you read here is raw and straight from the heart and mind of Minnie Flores a.k.a. Chelsea Nicole Sanchez Gonzalez.
I hope you join me in this journey of self-discovery and grief--but if not, I wish you all of the success in your journey of self-discovery for we all know change is all around including in oursleves.