Madeline M Gutierrez

Education:

Pratt Institute - Design, Florida State University - Communications

Tagline:

The World is a Curious Place.

Tagline:

I have 3 favorite sayings: 1) You can't have too many friends; 2) The World is a curious place; 3) Happiness is a form of courage - be brave - smile!

Bragging Rights:

I once swam with a drowning whale for 4 hours. ~ Midnight through 4 a.m. I was to make sure she kept her head where she could breathe and not smash herself on coral beds. ~ The fact that I didn't hesitate when asked is what I am most proud of (though I was shocked - surely there was someone more qualified?) ~ I was literally a passerby - a good Samaritan. I stepped off into the deep dark water - even when they explained how she could turn her neck a full 90 degrees and that she could very well bite me. That was also when - in my wet suit perched to jump in - they also thought to share that the day before "my whale" had taken her last Good Samaritan in her teeth and plunged down under the surface to where the lights didn't penetrate and the pea green waters near the surface lights morphed into the rich velvet of a black cat. His arm in her teeth, she submerged away from view of anyone on land and then - the same ebony whale now waiting for me - took him below the surface to the place most natural to her - and rushed him across the length of the cove in seconds. The length of a football field at least - under water caught in a whales mouth - "I bet that Cetaceaphile never forgot his swim with her either," I thought to myself. ~~ They did rescue him by the way - a little mauled and half drowned - but it was okay because - like me - he had signed the waiver they gave us when we were high and dry and she was just a vague sighing raspy whistle of air in the dark. (Surely a whale shouldn't sound like that when she breathes I thought) "He was getting too presumptuous with her - she is a wild animal - remember," I was told. Yet I went in - as if I had no choice. She might drown me - but that struggling breath I heard told my heart she would surely drown without me. Scared to death, not much of me making it out of the water just barely my head and shoulders. I was trying to use the awkward flippers to stay upright. Vertical in the choppy water, I presented her with the buoy she used to keep her head up. She rose to it, as if expecting it. I think I stopped breathing for a while. There she was, so frighteningly and amazingly close to me being held up by the float I offered her. For most of that night I swam always towards her to balance the push she was giving the float. This was to keep us away from the steep sharp walls of the cove. She was partially out of the water, you know like the way we see Orcas on the ice as they pursue seals on a National Geographic special. - There she was so close I could touch her. Picture something like a fat foam beach "noodle" (extra extra long) between us. That's all there was. And we looked eye to eye... Luckily they had marine biologists taking my place at 4 am. Why? Because although I was exhausted from treading water for so long - I would never had gotten out - if not "pushed out" by the next crew. I would have drowned. Drowning - maybe by simply falling asleep I was so tired - as I willed the whale to breath easy (and I tried to remember between my fright, my awe, and the chop of the water, to breath myself.) My memory of it is that it seemed it was just she and I under the stars. ~~~~ There's more to this story - other fantastic moments that happened there in the water with her - but I'll play at Scheherazade and you'll have to ask me for the parts like when my whale having dived, I found myself swimming alone in the luridly glowing water. The pea green I mentioned was like the green from a Captain Nemo movie as the blackest of giant mermaid's tails whooshed passed my legs almost touching me. Frightening me to death while giving me one of the most glorious visual memories of my life. Four hours can be an eternity of experiences. And I did it. I got in the water.

Education:

Colegio San José - Cabrero

Schools:

Gladstone Street Elementary School Azusa CA 1987-1993, Center Middle School Azusa CA 1993-1996

Community:

William Fouts

Schools:

Episcopal Cathedral High School Santurce NJ 1976-1980

Community:

Bill Waymouth, Milton Medina

Schools:

Louis D. Brandeis High School New York NY 1965-1969

Community:

Barbara Ruiz, Juan Segarra, Jose Gonzalez

Graduates:

Guillermo Ulmos (1983-1989),
Adlyn Gonzlez (1996-1999),
Madeline Gutierrez (1972-1972),
Aurea Sanabria (1989-1990)

Graduates:

Madeline Gutierrez (1972-1979),
Maria Isabel Karas (1965-1969),
Jackeline Gomez (1987-1991)

Graduates:

Suanett Saavedra (1996-2000),
Madeline Gutierrez (1978-1980)

Locality:

Puerto Rico

Gender:

Female

Birthday:

1929

Gender:

Female

Birthday:

1943

Locality:

NEW CASTLE, Delaware

Gender:

Female

Birthday:

1943