• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Raul Colon - photographer, digital marketer & writer living on the beach in Puerto Rico.

I support causes by supporting individuals.

  • My Photography
  • Puerto Rico’s Beaches
  • Hire Me
  • Get to Know Me
  • Talk to Me

To the Warrior

December 19, 2014 by Raul Colon

rauls-photography-watermark-4-6-1024x640 To the Warrior

After reading of the passing of a family member I watched the waves come and go this morning. I thought of the first time I realized we were mortals.

The First Time I remember a Family Member Passing Away

It should have been around 30 years ago when my uncle Pucho passed away. I was a bit older than my daughter Daniela. I remember going to church and seeing one of the most lovable guys I know as a kid in the permanent state of sleep.

A few days ago Daniela wanted to get a clearer understanding of what death was. She heard someone had died and was a bit startled by knowing that we are all going to move into another state at one point. I tried to give her as much information as an almost 4 year old can handle.

For me it took some time to grasp that Uncle Pucho was not coming back. At that time one of my two closest cousins who I also went to Pre-kinder and Kinder with Joel had lost his dad.

A Warrior Till the End

I fast forward 30 years. I wake up to the news that my Cousin Joel has lost his battle with an illness that only kept his body in a wheelchair but certainly not his spirits.

During the ages of 4-6 I remember Joel was the cousin I spent a good amount of time. To this day everytime I get the smell of Tuna it reminds me of Joel’s favorite lunch. During our time in Kindergarten and Pre-K. I never enjoyed the smell of the Túna especially when he choose to eat it every day next. But over the rest of my childhood years I would always miss Joel’s company.

Joel started his battled against muscular dystrophy at an early age. As we came out of I think was first grade Joel left to a school which could help him with his needs and I got separated from Joel. My closest cousin in my early childhood years took a different path.

Throughout the years I would send a message his way for the last few most of those interactions happened via Facebook.

Yesterday my mom indicated that she was a bit sad because Joel had gone into a coma. Being that Joel was a warrior when it came to battling his disease I could only hope he would recuperate. This morning I woke up to a sad and special morning.

Joel will no longer have to battle this evil disease any more. Joel had two Dads Tio Pucho passed away early in his life and Carlos who took care of him for most of his life (around 3 decades).

To my aunt Alma I admire her dedication and sacrifices she did to take care of my lovable cousin. If there is one individual in our large family who was friends with everyone was Mr. Joel. As a Dad I think of how hard it might be to lose a child and hopefully never will have to experience it.

I am sure Joel had a receiving party lead by our Grandma America and Tio Pucho (his dad) at the other dimensions waiting for us.

When I leave this world he is one of the first waiting for me on the other side. Maybe one day I can show him how inspired I am by how he lived.

May Joel Rest in Peace and may the next time I get the smell of tuna may Joel once again be sitting next to it (heck I might even join him).

raul-colon-xmaxpartyfit911-puertorico-123-1024x819 To the Warrior
My cousin Joel (1980-2014) is to my right behind the birthday decoration.

 

Filed Under: Family, Featured

Friends, Food Trucks, and Family

February 5, 2014 by Raul Colon

raul-rob-tina-1 Friends, Food Trucks, and Family

The previous week I spent most of my time connecting with old friends and family. My main objective was understanding what is the best way to approach a few new opportunities that have been presented to me.

Nice hotel, Good Vegan Food, and Even Better Friends

My week started flying off to Boston where I would arrive at my favorite hotel the Colonnade and have lunch with fellow misfit Nelson DeWitt who was nice enough to pick me up at the hotel and take us to the the Red Lentil where the vegan food was awesome.

Later on in the day I was able to catch up with my good friend Rob Hatch and finally meet the awesome Ron Hood from Owner Inc. for dinner. Both Ron and Rob are two awesome fathers who I consider my parenting mentors. Rob’s background working with children has always been helpful to understand Daniela’s growth. Ron Hood is a super creative dad, most of the experiences he creates around his daughter will make a you and me get emotional.

That same evening my good friend Lois picked me up at the hotel and drove us to the Microsoft N.E.R.D. center where my friend Chris Brogan was going to talk a bit about mastering the digital channel and what would happen on Tuesday at his event. It was great getting to see and spend time with Lois. It makes me see how similar we are when it comes to certain personality traits.

lois-and-raul-1 Friends, Food Trucks, and Family

 

I also had the opportunity to meet the great Dave Cutler in person after many years of tweeting and exchanging ideas online.

cutler-dave-raul-1 Friends, Food Trucks, and Family

Mastering the Digital Channel

Tuesday came along and I was able to spend the full day along some very brilliant people who were asking Chris Brogan and Rob Hatch questions on how the online business eco systems work.

One of the highlights of my visit to Boston was getting the privilege to meet Tina Lynch who I met online while working on a project with Chris and Rob for a business partner in England.

Chris-brogan-raul-colon Friends, Food Trucks, and Family

During the second half of the event I was able to have my brother Javier who is working on a new project listen to Chris and Rob which gave him a fresh perspective on how he sees business. After a long but very productive two days in Boston we drove down to Connecticut where Javier and I got to plan out our next few days and chat about the value we got from going to Chris and Rob’s event.

Visiting Nicko & the Uncle Gussy’s Team

We took the Metro north from Bridgeport to Grand Central as I would do every day while working at KPMG’s New York Office.

Once we arrived I was puzzled a bit by how after 8 years I did not quite remember the quickest route to 345 park avenue. After some walking on the very cold streets of New York City we got to Uncle Gussy’s food truck where Nicko was waiting for us to take pictures and do some work inside the food truck.

nicko-1 Friends, Food Trucks, and Family

Seeing the culture of how a food truck operates behind the scenes help me gain even more respect for the great job Nicko and his team do every day. Being able to find a blend of getting the best quality food out in a timely manner while keeping food costs down is truly a performance.

To my amazement people were standing in freezing temperatures to get their favorite Greek Food from Uncle Gussy’s Food Truck. Confirming Nicko’s has the right formula by keeping his customers happy and coming for more even in harsh weather.

uncle-gussys-1 Friends, Food Trucks, and Family

My Ex-KPMG and KPMG Family

I also had the opportunity to meet up with Amit and Ajay. Both of them worked with me at KPMG and left to other opportunities. I also was able to see some friends like Synthia and Abid who are still working at the firm. Walking into the office made me realize how much things have changed since I left about 8 years ago.

uncle-gussys-visit-1 Friends, Food Trucks, and Family uncle-gussys-visit-2 Friends, Food Trucks, and Family

It was an very interesting two days working in New York City that ended in a meeting where Nicko was nice enough to get us in front of his friend who is a successful entrepreneur.

We hopped back on the Metro North back to Bridgeport while discussing ideas and ways to work on Javier’s new venture.

It was a week filled with lots of research, meeting new friends, getting to hug old friends, and analyzing the best approach of the new opportunities we are going after.

I will be writing up a bit more on our new family venture in my newsletter which I share on Sunday’s (when I have something of value to share). If you want to find out more feel free to sign up.

PS: Special thanks to Nicko, Chris, and Rob for making this trip possible in many ways. 

uncle-gussys-visit-1-2 Friends, Food Trucks, and Family

Filed Under: Family, Featured Tagged With: Boston, Chris Brogan, KPMG, New York City, Uncle Gussys

Happy Birthday Super Mom!

December 20, 2013 by Raul Colon

lucy-and-daniela-1-1024x682 Happy Birthday Super Mom!

I sometimes write about those who are part of my support systems and I appreciate having them as friends and supporters.

But I sometimes don’t put the spotlight enough on someone who for me is the major support system in my life.

9 Birthday’s Together

This is the 9th birthday I celebrate with my life and business partner.

I am privileged enough to have had someone stand by my side for these many years especially in 2013 which has been the most challenging one out of all of them.

Super Grateful to Have Her

I am grateful that she gave me a daughter which she goes above and beyond her mom duties to take care of her and help her grow.

As my daughter is only a few days to turning 3 years old I see the commitment Lucy has made in being a truly awesome mom.

Happy Birthday Lucy!

I truly wanted to say to Lucy Happy Birthday and if you can take a second or two feel free to wish Lucy Happy Birthday here in the comments and on twitter.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: Family, Holidays, Payasa Agapita

No Exact Words can Express It!

October 13, 2013 by Raul Colon

javier-raul-colon-1 No Exact Words can Express It!

I can write all day about how I feel about equality is of importance. How I think every human deserves the same rights and opportunities. More importantly how some should appreciate the fact that they were handed those opportunities and make the best of them. Sometimes I become selfish and I realize that I want a select group of people to succeed more than others; better yet I want to give as much as possible so those great humans who have won my heart succeed in life.

When it comes to my list of priorities in life, after my daughter, I have always been in love with this other man and I wish him all the best. I can complain here that I don’t get to talk to him or see him as much as I would want but I guess when I see him and chat with him it makes it a lot more special.

My brother Javier and I were born to the same parents and are only 4 years, 5 months, and 10 days apart in age. When we were kids, Javier being the younger one, would try to get the same privileges as his older brother. For some reason he was sort of given rights at the same time as I was.  Realizing your younger brother just earned a privilege at the same time could have created some sort of belief that it was unfair. Having to wait till I was 12 years old to ride on my bike away from of our block and into the street was one of those memories.

Although I had some confusion on what was fair and what was not, I clearly did not understand the role I was playing.

I was the Team Leader

Looking back I clearly see that since I have always been very strict my mom trusted me into watching over my brother.

Years later I realize that I was brought to this earth to clear a path for my brother. That those few extra years gave us both an advantage and I was able to transfer some knowledge that might be useful to him and the rest of the family.

He was my #1 Fan (might still be)

I guess my younger brother also earned it by wanting to follow my path and be more like his older brother. I think I have done a fair job at setting an example with the best scenarios that were presented to me.

He Saw Superhero Qualities In Me

As kids, my brother would tell others I did certain things better than most of them. The reality was that my brother was truly in love with his older brother and he would see some superhero qualities in me I am sure nobody else could.

I am his #1 Fan

At the age of 33 I have to say that I see superhero qualities in my brother that many others might have seen even before me.

I smile everytime I think of how privileged I am to have such a big fan. Throughout the years I have become an even bigger fan of his in how he approaches life.

True Equals

There isn’t one person who I feel is more like me than my younger brother. With our voices and mannerisms, if we were closer in age, we might seem like twins. Yes we share the same parents, grand-parents, uncles, siblings, and cousins but one thing I truly feel is that we are very passionate towards what we do and when we commit to something we don’t stop until it is finished.

No Brief or Exact Words

As I write these words it is extremely complicated or impossible to express what I feel. But I sure gave it a try and dedicated this writing to one of the few men I truly love.

¡Happy Birthday!

As Javier celebrates his birthday, I can’t explain in words how proud of him I am and how much we love him.

There is no better gift than having a brother like Javier and I am so happy that even my daughter recognizes from far away how awesome her “Tio Javi” is.

Happy Birthday and we love you!

PS: Daniela really enjoys it when Tio Javi combs her hair. Thanks again for being an awesome uncle and brother!

javier-daniela-1-edited No Exact Words can Express It!

Filed Under: Family, Featured Tagged With: Family, Javier Colon

Wild Dolphins

October 7, 2013 by Raul Colon

dolphin-isla-verde-1 Wild Dolphins
Photo by Lucilla Feliciano

As a vegan I have a hard time watching dolphins perform in an environment they were not meant to be.

The past few days we have been lucky enough to be able to watch Dolphins from the coast. Last year in november I was able to see my first Dolphin in the wild and today marks the third time I get to observe dolphins in their natural habitat.

I was able to catch video in the water with my iPhone 5  thanks to the Lifeproof team .

In second 6 of the short version of a 3 minute video you can quickly observe how one jumps out quickly.

Can’t See the Video Click Here

 

 

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: Isla Verde, Mother Nature

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Go to Next Page »
Search
  • Puerto Rico's Beaches

  • Privacy Policy

  • Puerto Rico's Revolution Photos

RAULCOLON.NET RUNS ON THE GENESIS FRAMEWORK & POWERED BY WP ENGINE
SQUEEZED & SWEETENED BY LIMONADE INC.

All Rights Reserved.

COPYRIGHT © 2019 Raúl Colón Photographer & Activist