How did I come up with the name Cocoa?
When I was about four or five I began to notice that I didn't look like my mother (German)
or my siblings (German & Russian) and questioned the differences. I was told that while
my mother was vacationing in Puerto Rico she was hit in the head by a coconut. When
she returned to Chicago she heard rustling noises and cries coming from her bag and
emptied the contents to find a baby coconut...me! She fed me, and clothed me, and
taught me how to talk and walk and that was that. Naturally, I believed this story. It made
perfect sense to me and, as a result, I refused to eat any type of coconut products. I think
it was about a year or two later when I truly realized I was not a coconut but simply a
different race, Puerto Rican.
To this day I indulge myself with coconut decor in my house and wave each time I pass a
palm tree with coconuts; they are family after all. Thus the name Cocoanut (with an "a"
since I am not a coconut) abbreviated to Cocoa and the Bits & Pieces that make up my
art.
When I was about four or five I began to notice that I didn't look like my mother (German)
or my siblings (German & Russian) and questioned the differences. I was told that while
my mother was vacationing in Puerto Rico she was hit in the head by a coconut. When
she returned to Chicago she heard rustling noises and cries coming from her bag and
emptied the contents to find a baby coconut...me! She fed me, and clothed me, and
taught me how to talk and walk and that was that. Naturally, I believed this story. It made
perfect sense to me and, as a result, I refused to eat any type of coconut products. I think
it was about a year or two later when I truly realized I was not a coconut but simply a
different race, Puerto Rican.
To this day I indulge myself with coconut decor in my house and wave each time I pass a
palm tree with coconuts; they are family after all. Thus the name Cocoanut (with an "a"
since I am not a coconut) abbreviated to Cocoa and the Bits & Pieces that make up my
art.
Valerie Alduen ~ Cocoa’s Bits & Pieces PO Box 59367 ~ Chicago, IL 60659 cocoas_bits_and_pieces@hotmail.com www.cocoasmosaicdesigns.com 773-704-3737 |
