Ask any one of my close friends or family members if I like talking about myself, and I assure their answer would be and emphatic, “Yes!” But now that I’m inclined to type up a brief biography, I can’t help but feel a tad self-absorbed.

So in order to refrain my delving into an egocentric jibber jabber, I will give a reader’s digest version attempt of certain moments in my life and the important people that surround them.

I was born in West Covina, Calif., on September 30, 1982.

I lived in Walnut, Calif., until I was about 10 years old. I was a bit of a drama queen, who wore coke-bottle glasses and thought I was the hottest thing since sliced bread.

My mother, Martha Bohorquez, loved giving me bowl-cut hairstyles when I was a child for reasons I still do not know. But despite that fashion hiccup, she was and remains to be the greatest mother God could have ever given me. On a side note, my best friend, Anastasia Krebenios, poses a common question when she’s in a moral bind: “WWMD? What would Martha do?” Often times, the answer is, “She wouldn’t put up with that.” Whatever, “that” may be, the answer still suggests Martha is a pillar of strength. There have been many recipients of her stern letters that can attest to this fact.

My dad, Abelardo (Lalo) Cabrera, is not my biological dad, but this is something I’ve always known and could care less about. He’s been raising me since I can remember, and so, is the only father I know. My only regret is that I never conditioned myself to call him, “dad.” Just Lalo. He is quite the character; his humor is raw, he’s politically incorrect, he’ll work until his hands bleed to provide for his family and he is – on all accounts – my hero.

My sister, Jeanette Bourassa, who was quite the trouble maker growing up, is seven years older than me – a fact that I never let her forget. Although, as I too get older, she’s always quick to remind me of that, well. When she was 15 years old she was sent to live in Colombia, South America in an attempt to straighten out the rebel teen within her. We later joined her in 1994 and lived in the capital of the country, Bogota, for two years. Today, Jeanette is the mother of three beautiful and talented children: Daniel, Alyssa and Jonathan, and has been married to Andre Bourassa since 2001.

While in Colombia my parents had great hopes for us, but alas the socio-economic situation was taking a turn for the worst.

So in 1996 we moved to Port Saint Lucie, Fla. My dad still had land in Colombia, so it was easier to travel back and forth from between the two continents. What was not easy – at least not in the beginning – was living in Port Saint Lucie. Apparently, tight jeans, high-top sneakers and fishnet shirts were a thing of the past. But once I ditched the glasses and wardrobe, became heavily involved in soccer, school activities and had a social life, the so-called “teen angst” was a bit more bearable.

Two months after graduating from Port Saint Lucie High School in May 2000, I moved to Orange County, California. For more than six years I lived, loved and learned. I also ate, a lot, primarily with my best friend Anastasia, whom I met a year after me moving back to California. The first year of knowing each other we gained – what could be described as – the freshman 15; except we were not freshmen and it was more like 20 pounds.

 

She has been a sister, a confidant and constant in my life; a constant pain in the ass that is. I kid I kid.

In 2006, my mother bribed me to move back to Florida, where she, my dad, Jeanette and her own family, were still residing. In typical Martha fashion, she was strategic. She offered to pay for my school under the condition I move back. I accepted.

Let’s fast forward to present day. I am married to BJ Weichel, who is the coolest of all specimens. Together, we have two gorgeous sons, Julian and Keanu, and a dog named Luna, who puts the “Shit” in Shih Tzu. I am a VP of Marketing at Champion Utility, where I am responsible for the editorial content, press releases and advertising. I’m a freelance writer, as well.

Recently, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, so my writing has been centralized around that experience, the treatments and everything in between. It has been the hardest pill I have had to swallow to date, but I am leaning on my faith, positivity and a group of family and friends I’m eternally grateful to have.