Middle class, well-educated (state college), literary critic, and very sexy State Deptartment employee. Believed in helping people overcome poverty.
- Born: 1940
- Died:
Events
- Father was an army Colonel
- Liked men
- Married to Aaron Withers
- Adopted Lakita
- Speaks 2 languages: English and Spanish
- Interested in literature
- not religious
- Chose Maria
References
/V1C1/#the-gathering
Backstory
Cristina was an only child to a wealthy influential mother and father in Boston, MA. She attended a private highschool and graduated with honors. Before attending college, Cristina spent a year working as a volunteer in Asia. Cristina was fluent in Mandarin, French, Spanish, and English. She attended American University. Each summer, Cristina would go to the Philippines to work with the impoverished. One of those summers, Cristina met Aaron.
After graduatiion, Cristina took the Foreign Service exam and passed. She joined the foreign service like her parents. Cristina stayed in contact and married after Cristina had been in the foreign service for a number of years,
Cristina and Aaron could not conceive a baby. When they were in Peru for a conference, they assisted some children to escape a trecherous man, Sergio. After rescuing three girls, the Withers decided to adopt Maria. When Maria turned 18, Aaron Withers promised to tell her the whole story when she became 21 but Maria was never interested, the Withers were her family.
Cristina was with Maria when her husband Aaron was murdered. Cristina and Maria left for New York. Maria stays with Maria to help take care of Lakita, Maria’s daughter. When Maria leaves for work, Cristina Withers, Maria’s mother, watches and waves to her daughter from the kitchen window as she walked to catch the train to work.
Once in a while, over coffee or certain special moments, Cristina would share some information about her life in Peru. Cristina, now a recent widower, had a slender frame and an elegance even in her bathrobe. Cristina was Nana during the day and she took loving care of her three-year-old granddaughter. She also kept the house organized and tidy.
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On beautiful days like today, they might go to the library or have a late lunch out. Lakita enjoyed her time with Nana. Lakita was a very bright girl and spoke and read fluently in several languages. Nana spoiled her granddaughter with wonderful stories about her grandfather and baking her fresh popovers filled with local jams. However, the evenings were special, even magical with Mami (Maria). No matter what, even if Mami missed supper, she was always home in time for bedtime to read a story and pray.
Cristina had waved goodbye wearing her quilted white robe and a pair of fluffy slippers. As she walked off, Maria appreciated her family and today, the beautiful yet brisk sunny morning. but she had a strange sensation inside her. Just before she arrived at the coffee shop, Maria sat on her favorite bench and meditated. Her jet black hair waved gently in the breeze; her black orange-rimmed sunglasses with red polarized mirrored lenses were stylish and necessary. Today, she settled in on her breathing and her body. It was a necessary part of her routine that helped her with the pressure of the day.
