[English version]
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His father is Argentinian and his mother Mexican and although Mario DeCunto was born in California, he resided in Argentina for many years as a child and as an adult with his parents, who still live there today. Catherine "Poppy" Durant is what many view as the typical American woman of a long generational European ancestry. A mix of fate and love united them in universities social circles of Los Angeles in California more than 20 years ago.
It could be assumed that Mario and Poppy's relationship began as the typical romance of a young American couple, but it was quite peculiar, and some could even consider it the plot of a romantic comedy.
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| Photo credit: Mario & Poppy DeCunto |
“I was good friends with a college classmate of mine who was 'gay' and every time his father visited from Mexico, and I pretended to be his girlfriend in those social gatherings,” Poppy said. The reason was that Jorge, her Mexican friend, came from a family where machismo predominated, as is often the case in the Hispanic culture.
In one of those family events in the summer of 2001 where Jorge and Poppy pretended to be a couple, Mario was invited to that special dinner because he was Jorge's brother's childhood best friend. Poppy was very happy to see Mario because she had already met him briefly a few months ago at the birthday party for her "gay" friend, and by pure coincidence Mario's birthday was the same as Jorge's birthday.
"It's funny that the girlfriends I had at that time were always good friends with Jorge, and I don't know if it was maybe because we had the same birthday or because we all grew up together," Mario said with a chuckle.
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| Photo credit: Don Juan Corzo |
The two began their romantic connection at dinner despite curious looks from the family wondering why Mario was flirting with Jorge's “girlfriend”. Thus began their courtship that accelerated with great chemistry and by autumn of that same year they knew they would be together forever.
Following in the footsteps of her father's career as a lawyer, Poppy graduated from law school in California and has a practice to this day. Mario's father's profession was in the medical field, and Mario studied to be a physician at a university in Argentina, but he changed his mind and returned to the United States to study psychology in California and Florida. He currently works as a therapist for children and adults. In 2005, the couple moved to Florida to be closer to Poppy's family, who is originally from Jacksonville.
Along with the individual professional growth they've experienced as a couple, Mario, 49, and Poppy, 44, have also taken their life together as husband and wife to the next chapter as they became parents to two boys, Harlow and Charlie, who are 17 and 15 years old, respectively.
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| Photo credit: Geek Chic Photography |
Apart from growing as a family, they have also experienced personal development in their perceptions and cultural differences between the American and Latino cultures, and their children have been a part of it. Poppy admits that in the past as an American woman with an Anglo-Saxon family, it was difficult for her to recognize unpleasant feelings that Mario sometimes had in some situations as a Hispanic man, which could be identified as discrimination.
“When Trump was elected president, Harlow was at soccer practice and another kid who was caucasian came up and told him he was going to be deported or something like that,” Poppy said. "When he came home and shared what happened, Harlow also said that I would never understand because I was white too."
Poppy revealed that she felt at that moment for the first time she could be affected because of what her own child was going through now; she even admitted apologizing to Mario for not understanding him in the past.
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| Photo credit: Geek Chic Photography |
However, this raw discovery about the cultural differences between the two as a couple has been a source of humor and joy as well. Poppy doesn't understand why Mario is often late or takes a long time to get ready when they agree to go out for activities or social outings.
"When I tell Poppy 'I'm coming' I'm really saying 'I'm not ready yet' and I always assume she understands what I mean," Mario laughed mischievously.
Also, Mario doesn't understand why celebrations or parties in the United States have to end after two hours instead of ending spontaneously when everyone is done, as that is the common practice in Latin countries.
All in all, their experience as a couple in love despite cultural differences and life's challenges shows that love has no barriers... or borders.
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[Spanish version]
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Su padre es argentino y su madre mexicana y aunque Mario DeCunto nació en California, él vivió en Argentina muchos años como niño y como adulto con sus padres, quienes todavía residen allá. Catherine “Poppy” Durant es lo que es considerada la tradicional mujer americana con una larga generación de ascendencia europea. Y el amor los unió en los círculos universitarios de Los Ángeles en California hace más de 20 años.
Se podría decir que la relación de Mario, de 49 años actualmente, y Poppy, de 44 años de edad, empezó como el típico romance de una pareja joven americana, pero fue realmente peculiar y hasta algunos podrían considerarlo la trama de una película romántica.
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| Photo credit: Mario & Poppy DeCunto |
“Yo era buena amiga de un compañero universitario que era ‘gay’ y cada que venía su papá de México a visitar, y yo pretendía ser su novia en esas reuniones sociales”, dijo Poppy, pues Jorge, su amigo mexicano, venía de una familia donde el machismo dominaba, como suele ocurrir en la cultura hispana.
En uno de esos eventos de familia en el verano del año 2001 donde Jorge y Poppy pretendían ser pareja Mario fue invitado a una cena especial pues él era el mejor amigo de la niñez del hermano de Jorge. Poppy se puso muy contenta de ver a Mario pues ya lo había conocido brevemente hace unos meses en la fiesta de cumpleaños de su amigo latino “gay” y de pura casualidad el cumpleaños de Mario era el mismo día del nacimiento de Jorge.
“Es curioso que las novias que yo tenía en ese entonces eran siempre buenas amigas de Jorge y yo no sé si era tal vez porque teníamos el mismo cumpleaños o porque todos crecimos juntos”, dijo Mario entre risas.
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| Photo credit: Don Juan Corzo |
Los dos empezaron su conexión romántica en la cena y a pesar de miradas de curiosidad de la familia preguntándose porque Mario estaba coqueteando con la “novia” de Jorge. Así empezó su noviazgo que aceleró con gran química y para el otoño del mismo año ellos sabían que iban a estar juntos para siempre.
Siguiendo los pasos en la carrera de derecho de su padre, Poppy se graduó de la universidad en California para ejercer como abogada hasta el día de hoy. La profesión del padre de Mario fue en el campo de medicina, y Mario estudió para ser médico en una universidad de Argentina, pero cambió de idea y regresó a los Estados Unidos para estudiar psicología en California y en Florida y se desempeña como terapista actualmente. En 2005, la pareja se mudó a Florida para estar más cerca de la familia de Poppy que es de Jacksonville originalmente.
Con el progreso profesional que han tenido como pareja, Mario y Poppy han subido al siguiente nivel en su vida como marido y mujer, pues son los padres de dos chicos, Harlow, 17 de años, y Charlie, de 15.
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| Photo credit: Geek Chic Photography |
“Cuando eligieron a Trump como presidente, Harlow estaba jugando soccer y un muchacho caucásico vino y le dijo que lo iban a deportar o algo así”, dijo Poppy. “Cuando Harlow regresó a casa compartió lo sucedido y me dijo también que yo nunca entendería porque yo era blanca también”.
Poppy reveló que sintió por primera vez en ese momento cómo ella se podía afectar porque ahora eso le estaba pasando a su propio hijo, y admitió pedirle disculpas a Mario por no entenderlo en el pasado.
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| Photo credit: Don Juan Corzo |
Sin embargo, este descubrimiento crudo sobre las diferencias culturales entre ambos como pareja, ha sido una fuente jocosa o de humor también. Poppy no entiende porque Mario llega tarde o se demora cuando hacen acuerdos o citas para actividades sociales.
“Cuando yo le digo a Poppy que ‘ya voy’ realmente estoy diciendo ‘todavía no estoy listo’ y yo pensaba que ella ya me entendía”, dijo Mario con picardía.
Adicionalmente, Mario no entiende porque las celebraciones y fiestas en Estados Unidos tienen que concluir después de dos horas en vez de terminar pues cuando todos quieran, como es la practica común en los países latinos.
Considerándolo todo, su experiencia como pareja enamorada a pesar de las diferencias culturales y los retos de la vida muestra que el amor no tiene barreras... o fronteras.
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A version of this story was published in Hola News Newspaper on Febrero 8, 2023.
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