Who I am
Hi everybody. I’m Sonia. Sonia Rodriguez Wood.
I was born in Queens New York to Puerto Rican parents I’ve loved singing since I was big enough to open up a hymnal in our little Spanish church. My father sang and played the organ in church and I suppose that’s where I get my love of singing from. When I was 3 years old we moved to a small town in Southern New Jersey where I began singing in school choral programs and doing plays in elementary school. I even took a short stab at learning to play the organ and played a bigger than me pipe organ in a talent contest.
The first musical I performed in was my freshman year of high school. Godspell. I knew then that if I could sing AND be on stage that’s where I wanted to be. We moved to Florida the next year where I began working in Community Theater because the high school musical had no part I was really interested in. As I grew older and started raising my own family and moving around through Upstate New York and later to Phoenix I never gave up on music and theater. I still perform everyonce in a while when I can fit it into my hectic schedule. Its definitely my passion.
I love spending time with my family when I can and especially the man of my dreams (yup, I actually found mine). We’re were married September 6th 2009 and still feel like newlyweds.
I also enjoy writing, digital photography and the outdoors. I’m extremely outgoing. To say the least. Shy is a word that’s never been used to describe me. I’m a very passionate person. I’m passionate about my family, my friends and life as a whole. I try to live life to the fullest. And try to remember to live each day as if it were my last.
I first started blogging back in 2005 on myspace through 2009 http://www.myspace.com/soniaboricua/blog. For those of you starting here from scratch I’ll try and sum it up best I can. I like to write though so I can’t promise it’ll be short.
Back when I started blogging I was in a very different place in my life than I am now. Amazing how in just five years so much can change. I’d just had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from my kidney that Spring. I’d thought a lot about death and had decided I was going to live life to the fullest. I auditioned for my first professional theater gig 2 months later. My oldest daughter was a Senior in High School. My youngest daughter was getting ready to start High School. Then I got booked for that dinner theater gig. I decided I was going to move to New York City and pursue my dream or performing in musical theater as a profession in the summer once my daughter was off to join the Marines.
So much has changed and so much hasn’t. I found this quote in an earlier blog entry.
“I mean when, I achieve my dream. Who the hell am I gonna have to share it with?”
Music and theater are my passions. That hasn’t changed what has changed drastically is that I finally have someone to share my life with. I’d given up on that dream. Quite a long time ago. Now I find myself with a daughter who’s a Marine Reservist (Support Our Troops!) married and going to college; I’m a home owner and a wife; my youngest daughter has graduated High School and starting her first year of a University education. Many dreams I’d given up on and perhaps replaced with a dream of becoming a star on Broadway. Or at least a workin’-just-scraping-by-actor in NYC. I’ve had a taste of what it might be like doing 8 shows a week. There was a lot of fabulous about it and a lot of not so fabulous about it. It was certainly different than working in a small local community theater production that’s for sure. As much as I think I’d like it once in a while, a career of doing it day after day after day, month after month and year after year? Maybe not s’much. A life with a husband who’s devoted to me and cares for me and wants to make me happy while supporting my musical dreams seems a lot more balanced. Sure a little safer too. I’m not “giving up” on pursuing my passion, just changing direction slightly. I will continue to strive to be my best. The best mother, wife, performer too. This blog will be a little peek into my life and what goes on, both the ups and downs, while I try to do that. Live my life. With joy, sorrows, challenges and accomplishments. If the last 40 years are any indication, the next 40 should be an interesting story. Thanks for tuning in to a piece of the journey.
