Never leave your plank behind.

It will always keep you safe.

I never tire of writing about my father. He was my captain, my hero. Although he was far from perfect, he was greater than life.

My father, Luis Angel Toledo, was born with a congenital defect that caused him cerebral palsy. Up to adulthood, he walked with crutches and later in life was bound to a wheelchair.

While he could not stroll down the beach or ride a bike, that did not stop him from being the life of the party anywhere he went. His personality would fill up any room that he entered.

Dad loved to sing, recite and party. When he would drive by a house where there were many cars in clear indication of a shindig, he would always complain in jest that he had not been invited to it even though he did not know whose party it was.

Most commercial establishments in Puerto Rico do not meet the minimum standards set forth in the regulations implementing the American with Disabilities Act.

Dad used to go to this joint where all his friends would meet to listen to “Yesterday’s Music” and watch his friends dance in perfect synchronicity to boleros, salsa or merengue, with the wives with whom most had celebrated their golden wedding anniversaries. Although he could not dance, he had an extraordinary sense of rhythm that he displayed when playing in accompaniment to the Trío the güiro or the maracas.

Dad’s Yesterday's music

The joint — Cafeteria Zayas — had live music on the evenings. Although it had one side entrance with a ramp, it was an old structure that required navigating through different levels that were narrow and had no ramps to move to the restrooms or around the restaurant to meet and greet friends and acquaintances.

That did not stop Luis Angel. My father, a stoic Quixote whose scribe unconditionally toiled along in cahoots with his adventures, carrying a wood plank in that back of dad’s wheelchair van. Encountered with a step that his motorized chair could not tackle, his loyal partner would get the plank, creating an instant makeshift ramp. When dad chose to move through the building to greet his comrades, his Sancho would move the plank to the next step until Dad made it to his spot.

Without knowing it, I have always carried around my own plank to make sure I did not skip a beat. My plank was, and continues to be, the Full Armor of God.

Every time I left my home, I would invariably declare something that translates from Spanish into something like this: “In the Sacred name of Jesus, that is with us at all times and never abandons us.”

“En el Santo nombre de Jesús, que nos acompaña y nunca nos abandona.”

As redundant as it sounds, I do not remember where I got that mantra from, since no one taught it to me. All I know is that I am certain that I always recited it when leaving my home, and that it shielded me from unfathomable evil that, unbeknownst to me, lurked everywhere I went.

The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:11-17

"Put on the full armor of God so that you can fight against the devil’s evil tricks. Our fight is not against people on earth but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world. That is why you need to put on God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing. So stand strong, with the belt of truth tied around your waist and the protection of right living on your chest. On your feet wear the Good News of peace to help you stand strong. And also use the shield of faith with which you can stop all the burning arrows of the Evil One. Accept God’s salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

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As targeted individuals, we must always carry our spiritual plank, God’s Full Armor that will ensure our safety while coming and going anywhere, or even where we are.

No weapon shall prosper against it.

Have a blessed day.