Corillo, my first column of 2024. And I'm starting the year not with filler or talk about Tekashi or Yailín, thank God, but with another exclusive, as I'm used to #FirstWithTheNalgo.
This surprised me because it is about the separation of a solid and very loved couple after more than three decades of marriage. I'm talking about the wedding of José Nogueras, “the Puerto Rican Mariah Carey”, who has thawed since we eat turkey in November and who enters the Christmas season in which, I am very sure, he does not eat bananas with corned Beef, but lobster and Cairo ham with so much stew. , and his wife Marisell Muñiz. In other words, 32 years of marriage is neither a shell nor a coconut.
What happened? Is love over? Another person? The truth is that I found out about this rumor on November 28th to be exact. Before I posted anything, I called José, who I've known for years, and asked him if it was true or not. He asked me not to post anything until after Christmas because he had a lot of cooking to do and didn't want to lose focus. He gave me his word that we would talk after Kings. I may be chatty and rude but I respected that, I swore like Tempo and called him after Three Kings (I didn't give him a break, I literally called him on January 7th). I went on a cruise to see off the year, celebrate and pray that no other media would find out and publish it. I suffered. But no one has found out, even though this breakup has been going on for a long time. They kept it quiet until he gave me this exclusive interview.
José and Marisell have three daughters. The first, Corali, comes from José's previous marriage, but Marisell raised her from the age of four and they love each other like mother and daughter. The middle daughter is Cristina. They are neighbors in Atlanta and live 15 minutes from each other. Beatriz, 29 years old, who we always see very happy with José in terms of communication, interviews and activities, lives with both of them, some days with Marisell and others with José. Beatriz, with whom I have shared many times, is a beautiful and loving young woman with special needs. Beatriz spent Christmas with José because he loved the orchestra. It accompanies him everywhere he sings. Everyone asks about her wherever José goes, and she happens to not be there. Marisell, who I'm not allowed to know, is a Zumba instructor (I'm told she's really tough at it) and sells Monat products, where I've seen on her networks that she does it super well, she's an expert at it “Alive” and has set up this kiosk well.”
Ok, ok, I'll shut up, here's my interview with José Nogueras.
José, thank you for the opportunity, the respect, the trust and the friendship that has bound us for so many years. I saw that you spent Christmas working and cooking a lot. I am very happy about this and about the success of your new song “Parranda Comes and Parranda Va”.
“Let me tell you. I started non-stop in October and finished it last Sunday, January 14th, in San Sebastián. Over Christmas I told myself that God's blessing on my health, my kidneys, my liver, my Heart and my well-being at the age of 72 is exceptionally good. I had 42 lectures. How could I do them as a singer? If it's a group like El Gran Combo or Límite 21, three sing, but there was only me. It was a great blessing that the people of Puerto Rico have me year after year in the place where they have me and where I can have work for myself and my musicians. We always contribute a new song, like “Parranda Comes and Parranda Va,” along with “Paloma,” “Guineítos con Corned Beef,” “They Don't Want to Stop,” and “To Greet You,” among others. “It was a Christmas full of health and work, including trips to Tampa and Orlando for further performances.”
How are you feeling about your health?
“I have a very great blessing. I haven't had anything with my liver since my transplant, and it's continued to be fine. A perfect compatibility. The only thing it has given me is Covid but nothing else. I have been transplanted for 18 years and am in good health.”
They work all year round. I guess you're already preparing for the next one. What can you tell us?
“You have the overview. I have a romantic song. I write a lot of romantic music that stays on the computer, I arrange it, I sing it, but not all of it is released because there is a certain level of intelligence and care here and each song is taken out so that it has its own space . Because since you are an artist with such a big Christmas connotation, you have to know what you are going to do. In a few days I will release the song “Despite everything”. Very nice arrangement and beautiful lyrics. I wrote it 25 years ago. Why hadn't he taken it out? Because I still have about 100 more. I wrote it about a friend's situation. If he were alive he would be around 90 years old. It is the love story of him and his wife, people who loved each other very much and whose social circumstances did not allow them to be together. Years later, life circumstances changed, they met again and achieved the happiness that they had dreamed of back then and that they could not have. I’ll come later with some sauce.”
José, you already know that I heard a very sad rumor and I preferred, with all due respect, to ask you directly before publishing or saying anything. Is it true that you separated from your wife Marisell?
“Yes. We have been separated for almost three years. For different reasons, we thought, we were completely separated, as if she was one entity and I was another. We have daughters in common, birthdays in common, moments of family joy together, but we have a daughter named Beatriz, who lives very isolated there due to her circumstances and suffers from mental retardation, as she is now called. This means that we have to talk about some detail about her practically every day. We have maintained such a warm relationship, Marisell so friendly and I with her equally. The time came when we decided to get a divorce. She understood that yes, in a friendly way, I understood the same. We didn't do it for a long time because since she has no one and Since I don't have anyone, there was no rush for me to get divorced “to be with so-and-so.” We stay in touch every day through Beatriz. Beatriz is a gift that God gave me. I don't know what my life, my struggle would be like without her. “God chose us because he knew there had to be a girl like that for us.”
Has the love between you and Marisell changed? Then how do you describe what happened between you?
“She coped really well. Marisell is an extraordinary creature. I don't think I can be with another woman at this point in my life because like Marisell, there will be no other. She has so many special things, she is so intelligent, so good, so humble, so Christian, so pretty. “We’re in a good fight.”
In other words, you make it clear that there are no jokes here, there is no other person, but the love between you has changed, you will always be there for Beatriz and the communication between you is excellent.
“Yes, I can guarantee that.”
Why didn't they make the separation public, even though the marriage lasted so long and everyone knew them and loved seeing them together, even though some very close people had already noticed it?
“It’s like getting sick and being told you have a catastrophic illness. I didn't talk about my liver cirrhosis and everything that was happening to me until about three months later. It seems that every person, to some extent, subconsciously shys away from disclosing this. The whole time I was worried about Beatriz, how she would feel. But we have help from a doctor who helps us a lot. He was instrumental in preparing Beatriz to understand, and she, thank God, is clear now. I think it's the moment.
Are you already divorced?
“Yes, we have done it since last November by mutual consent, completely by consent.”
What was it like for Beatriz at first when she noticed that mom and dad were no longer in the house together?
“She has great adaptability and receives so much love from everyone. Marisell and I have such a warm relationship, which helped Beatriz understand. She took it a bit badly in the first few days, you could tell, but now she's fine again. There is a world there and a world here. When he goes there he calls me every day. If he's here, he'll call there. She is happy. “We love her so much.”
Do you understand that separating and divorcing was the best decision?
“After the care we gave (Beatriz), we analyzed it and yes.”
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Would you be willing to give yourself another chance at love in the future?
“Anything can happen. But the truth is that I am 72 years old and I had a few girlfriends before Marisell. I lived with such a special woman like her for a very, very long time. I am calm, my priority is Beatriz and music . Every time you go somewhere to sing, opportunities arise. I go with Beatriz, I have a security guard accompanying me who handles everything. In the end we go as there is a Netflix series waiting for me. I won't hang out. “I spend time with Beatriz and her little friends.”
For me, the message that you and Marisell convey about getting along well after a breakup and divorce, rather than being in a situation like we unfortunately often see, is exemplary and what others should emulate. Do you think it is?
“I understand that it is 300% true. And we don't sit down and look for it in a book. This is in our nature. Whenever you tell me you need something, I'm there. And not because she is Beatriz's mother, but because she is a person who deserves it, period. We continue to go through life and live. The best thing God did was one day at a time.”
What message comes from the heart to the couples who were not well off but who, as enemies, interfere with the well-being of their children?
“You have to have God in your heart. It must be in your blood. It is something that should have started in your upbringing, it should have developed over the years of your life based on the examples given by God. You have to be a good learner. When the going gets tough, you must have in your being a loving response to what is happening to you. You have a separation, a divorce, but you have children and a person who deserves respect. Give your children love. And if your child has special needs, even more so. Do you know how much time Marisell and I have invested in Beatriz and that we would like to invest it for ourselves? But it is not like that. Over time, God tells you that Beatriz's time is your time. So you don't make any difference. Now is our time. Every time we go out and Beatriz enjoys it, I enjoy it.
Undoubtedly, both of them are an example to follow in the sad separation and divorce, not only as parents, but also for the beautiful and warm way in which they gave everything to each other, for their daughters and for the love they still have always feel for each other. My respect. Always the best for José and Marisell.
They figured it out #FirstWithTheNalgo In meter.