Vela’s grand Limo ride from the crisis center

or how the Romani roll like royalty

Vela with her husband Nicky and their grandson, taking a picture with the limo | Picture owned by author

My partner’s niece Vela has a spirit of pure fire.

We’ve shared many stories about her. How she made a reporter feel uncomfortable with her sarcasm, as she was walking into the unknown — pregnant — away from her house that had just been demolished. How she shut up a mean municipality worker who tried to shame her relative for her “too many children,” by proclaiming loudly that the Romani have a lot of sex. How, on her own wedding day, she gave me one of the simplest and most powerful pieces of advice as a conflict between the men was escalating: “Be a woman.”

But what encapsulates Vela’s spirit the best is her recent insistence to book a limo.

It was a fierce statement of defiance, pride, and love.

A boy turned 9 months

What was the occasion? Vela’s grandson was turning 9 months and she decided to combine this date with a traditional ritual called “pogacha” that involves breaking a special, round loaf of bread over the head of the baby — for good health and fortune.

It’s a Bulgarian tradition that the Romani here have adapted into their culture. And while in the Bulgarian tradition, this is a quiet and humble celebration with immediate family…