I was introduced to “santos de palo” (wooden santos) in my grandmother’s bedroom in the town of Orocovis in the 1950’s where she had them displayed on her bureau. I didn’t realize how much these icons would impact my life until I met a pivotal person in my life: Father Felipe López Guillama, who had returned to the country as an ordained priest after 11 years of ecclesiastical studies at the Vatican. He had a wonderful collection of early santos in his residence. “Pipe” shared with me his knowledge about these carvings. Fascinated, I began to buy books and a few santos available at the time and found several relevant articles printed in newspapers. I, also, bought a few carvings when I went at night to rural homes with Pipe. He assisted me in getting old carvings I could afford with my lunch money for college. I continued to study the santos folk art for decades after I immigrated to this country in 1971 to become a teacher for Latino students in Boston. In one of my visits to my country in August of 1998, I went with a dear friend to the Center of Popular Arts in Old San Juan to see an exhibition of santos carved by students. That afternoon I bought my tools and two days later I started a carving class with the master carver, Héctor Alvares Paredes at the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. I have been carving ever since . I have grown in my carving skills thanks to the influence of master carvers including Carmen Rodríguez, Luis Raúl Nieves Román, Félix Martínez Barbosa, and José Luis Peña Burgos. I carve with these and other artisans whenever I visit Puerto Rico.