Everything you wanted to know (and maybe a few things you didn’t) about Cynthia Del’Aria
What's your favorite color?
Warm blues and greens. Like the water in the Caribbean. I seriously can’t get enough of the beach, and that water…
What's one of the things you are most proud of having done in your life?
Becoming a stepmom. My fiancee has two wonderful kiddos, and they’ve been in my life for almost 10 years now. It took me a long time to learn how to be the right balance of parent and confidante. I don’t have children of my own, so I don’t know what being a mom feels like. But I would walk through fire for those kids, and my protective instincts of them are fierce.
What are the top 3 items on your bucket list?
Travel to Fiji (or the Maldives or Bora Bora or…) and stay in a hut on top of the water. Fly in a hot air balloon someplace really romantic with my honey-bunny. See the wild pigs on the island in Nassau.
Tell us a funny story involving a pet or significant other.
My very first husky, IsIs, was stung on the nose by a bee one night at one or two in the morning. Her entire snout, EXCEPT her bottom jaw, swelled up to at least 4 or 5 times its normal size. In the moment, I was scared she wouldn’t be able to breathe and rushed her to the hospital. Looking back, she looked like a cartoon with this huge nose and tiny little tongue and lower jaw. I wish I’d taken a picture! (Everything turned out just fine; she got a little Benadryl and was no worse for wear.)
If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?
My grandfather, Richard Delaria. He died when I was only 16, and we had moved out of state almost 10 years prior. I never got to meet him and talk to him and ask him for advice as an adult. He was a brilliant aerospace scientist and engineer who worked on several of the Apollo missions and led the Apollo 13 rescue mission. His doctoral thesis is still classified to this day; he said to us, “I can’t tell you anything about it, but it’s related to time travel.” Who wouldn’t want to meet that guy?
Imagine you won $10 million in the lottery today. What would you do?
Nothing really crazy, to be honest. I love what I do, and I’d keep getting up and doing it everyday. I’d just never worry about the money part again. And I would setup a trust for my favorite non-profit, Thunder Puppy K9 Rehabilitation and Rehoming.
What was the last gift you gave someone?
I honestly can’t remember. My fiancee is the gift-giver in our family, and he’s so amazing at it that I let him own that job. He is incredibly thoughtful and always seems to know the exact right thing, regardless of how long or short he’s known someone. His gift-giving is a gift!
Do you have any charitable organizations that are meaningful to you? What is it that you like about it?
Thunder Puppy K9 Rehabilitation and Rehoming is the only Siberian Husky and Malamute rescue left in Colorado. I am on the Board of Directors for the organization, and the woman who runs it is a phenomenal force for dogs who are “the worst of the worst”. We use pack therapy to rehabilitate animals with behavioral and temperament issues that others have labeled incurable. It’s incredibly satisfying to be in the presence of 20 snow dogs because it forces you to reconnect to nature and to be in tune with the world around you in a way that regular life does not. All three of the Huskies I have now are thanks to Ann and Thunder Puppy. They are happy, healthy, well-adjusted dogs who light up my world, and it’s all because of Ann.
If you could compare yourself with any animal, which would it be and why?
I’m a Siberian Husky, through and through. Stubborn and independent, sarcastic sense of humor, but still with a driving need for a pack and affection. All Sibe traits to the core.
Tell us something that is obvious to you but that you've learned is not obvious to everyone.
How a roundabout works. I mean, if you’re IN the circle, you have the right-of-way. If you’re not, you don’t. What’s so difficult about that??!?!