Deborah Santoni

The day my entire world shook

It was 8:05pm on January 6 2020. I was sitting in our sofa, watching TV while my husband was trying to cook some eggnog for the very first time. We lived in Ponce, one of the biggest cities in the south of Puerto Rico, a small island in the Caribbean. We were living there because I started my doctoral studies in clinical psychology, in that city. I look at our Christmas tree moving slowly, swaying from side to side, in a passive way. "It is shaking..." I tell my husband. It wasn't the first time, but this time, something was different. "Don't worry sweetie, everything will be okay" he replied. I got a bit anxious and decided to text my mom, and tell her about it. I told her I did not want to stay in the house, and that I wanted to go stay with her. It was kind of late in the night to drive for half an hour, so I stayed.