Often I get asked, “What was
it like being raised by Stephanie Cabrera, Puerto Rico’s first female surf
champion.”
My Mom
taught us how to surf, even though we lived 700 miles from the nearest ocean. For
11 years she worked the night shift as a marketing director for the Casino. She
would suit up at 6pm and return at
3am to sea the three of us sleeping
in her bed, but hey sometimes life’s a beach. Even the best surfer has to get
down on their knees every once in a while. When it was pouring rain and all
of our friends were summoned to the inside of their homes, she would put on our
boots and take us outside. The rain would drench us instantly as we puddle
jumped on the abandoned, city streets. When we would go out to restaurants we
could only order water and growing up
my favorite food was her Spinach Quiche. We never got to eat Fruit Loops or Pop
Tarts for breakfast. The worst day of my life was the day she went to the
thrift store and bought a pair of shorts made out of a potato sack. She wore
them all the time. Frankly she didn't care what was cool. She always taught us
to swim against the tide. Speaking of
Tide, I also did a lot of laundry
since my brother and sister were lazy bums. Wili could cook so I forgive him
and Suni liked to pay me to keep her secrets so I forgive her too.
I’ve won
a couple pretty nice awards so far in life (Miss Florida Latina, Miss Puerto
Rican Parade, etc.), but the one that has meant the most to me was given to me
in the 5th grade. It was a simple piece of paper given to me by my entire
class that said, “Cristina Neal – Stands Up for Other People Award.” The most
important step in life and in surfing is building
momentum and having the courage to stand
up. I remember a story my Mom used to tell me when I was little. In school
she desperately wanted to fit in, but never felt part of the group. She
overheard the “cool girls” talking about how they were going to cut their hair
and that she should also cut her hair. The next day my Mom went to school with
her beautiful, long hair cut very short and all the girls made fun of her for
actually falling for it. From that day forward she promised to always be true
to herself.
Almost
everyday she found herself hanging out at the beach, across the street from her
house. She would convince the boys to let her borrow their surfboards. At the
time most girls where forbidden to surf by their parents and society. Eventually
she realized she was pretty good at this thing called surfing and even bought
her own surfboard. Something amazing happened; she no longer cared what the
girls at school thought or said about her. At the end of the day it was her and
her board, best friends forever. Finishing up she would ask me, “and do you know
what the funny part of the story is? When I stopped caring about being cool, is
when I actually became cool. People started liking me because I was swimming against the tide.” Over the
years I remember this story often. In high school I didn’t drink, do drugs, or
even go to a single party, but I still managed to win homecoming queen in a
school of 4,000 students. Why? Because people respect you when you do you.
Before leaving to college my Mom told me her secret to becoming the first female
surf champion of Puerto Rico, “Keep your
balance.” After all life is all a balance between the spiritual, physical,
and emotional. At the end of the day, when your wave comes to an end, and your ride is over… you have to be ready
to wipeout.
Stephanie
Cabrera will be at Legend Surf Classic in Rincon January 18-20 2014
