Mi gente,
If this year had a soundtrack, it would be full of shifts. Songs you didn’t expect to love. Pauses that taught you to listen. And maybe a few verses you’ve outgrown — still part of the story, but no longer the chorus.
2025 brought me home — literally and emotionally.
After years of chasing stories coast to coast, I found myself craving something I hadn’t allowed in a while: peace. Not the kind you find on vacation or in a perfect morning. The kind that comes when you stop pretending a version of yourself still fits. So I packed up my life in San Francisco, said goodbye to the version of me who always put work first, and came back to the East Coast to begin again — softer, slower, surer.
This year I returned to Reading. I returned to family. I returned to the stories that live closest to the ground — where culture, grief, resilience, and beauty all speak the same language.
And you’ve been with me, every step of the way.
Thank you for reading. For cheering me on. For letting me write in a way that’s honest and bilingual and sometimes messy. It means everything.
2025 in a few words:
Moved across the country
Published my first book — Your English Is Great, But…
Launched a bilingual coloring book for kids (coming 2026)
Quietly dreaming up something new in Florida
Rooted myself back in the East Coast with fresh eyes
Told stories that matter to me — from Berks to Cartagena
And above all: chose happiness, on purpose
I’ve been away from social media these last few weeks, not to disappear, but to build.
Next year, there’s another book on the way. One that dives deeper into the stories the city gave me — and what it took. More details soon.
There are also some quiet plans unfolding in the Caribbean and in the South — blueprints for something beautiful, something bilingual, something rooted in joy. I’m not ready to share it all yet. But I’m smiling just thinking about it.
And now, a wish.
I hope you’re proud of what you’ve made it through.
I hope you give yourself credit for every tiny shift, every silent battle, every no that led to a better yes.
And I hope — wherever you are — you’re starting to feel a little lighter. A little freer.
A little more you.
Before we step into 2026…
What’s one thing you’re leaving behind this year?
And what’s something you’re choosing — for you — in the new one?
Hit reply. I’d love to hear.
With cariño,
José
Café con José ☕️ | Stories, culture, and corazón
José Martínez 