LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Time now for StoryCorps. Today, memories of a character on one of New York City's most popular beaches. Oswaldo Gomez, better known as Ms. Colombia, was a fixture in Jacob Riis Park. You couldn't miss her. She sported a green beard and was accompanied by a miniature poodle and a foul-mouthed parrot. Ms. Colombia was once a lawyer who immigrated to New York in 1975. She earned her nickname by giving free legal advice to fellow Colombians. Her friends Victoria Cruz and Carlos Villacres came to StoryCorps to remember her.
VICTORIA CRUZ: I met her in the late '80s at Riis Beach, the riviera of New York. I saw her coming down the rocks dressed in this sequined silver blouse that when the sun hit it, it just shined.
CARLOS VILLACRES: Ms. Colombia really made impacts on people who didn't agree with what she looked like. I remember one time some big guy came over and he told me, when they were kids, Ms. Colombia would walk the beach. And they waited for her one day and they chucked rocks at her. They said, get off the beach, you freak, and she ran. But the next day, she came from behind. Now they had to run because she kept throwing rocks like, freaks, freaks.
CRUZ: (Laughter)
VILLACRES: Ever since that day, they became friends. So are you comfortable sharing about the last time you saw Ms. Colombia?
CRUZ: It was at Riis Beach. And she told me in Spanish, (speaking Spanish) - I'm rotting from the inside. Her doctor had told her that she didn't have long to live. She had colon cancer, and she had AIDs. And she said, I would like to be remembered as an artist who paints smiles on people's faces. (speaking Spanish). That day, the water was greenish turquoise. She wanted to go in, but the sea was very rough. I made her promise me that she would not go into the water. But then I had to leave.
VILLACRES: They found her really early in the morning.
CRUZ: Yeah. She must've got caught in a riptide. The next day was one of the darkest days I've ever spent.
VILLACRES: How will you remember Ms. Colombia?
CRUZ: She gave people the license to be themselves. And she always told me, dress to impress. No matter what, there's people who're going to hate what you're wearing. Go get dressed, look in the mirror and laugh at yourself. Once you laugh at yourself, let them laugh. Who cares? That's how I'll remember her.
(SOUNDBITE OF BLUE DOT SESSIONS' "HOME HOME AT LAST")
FADEL: Victoria Cruz and Carlos Villacres for StoryCorps in New York. Ms. Colombia died in 2018. This conversation is archived at the Library of Congress. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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