My hero and heroine are MoM, DaD, and the members of my family who in the face of danger, left their worldly belongings behind and sacrificed for their families by fighting adversity in a new nation and learning another language and through feats of ingenuity, bravery and strength, put aside their own personal concerns for a greater good and for a future in The United States of America.
My heroes have unfortunately passed on. They were my parents, Margarita, and Antonio, my uncles and aunts Graciela, Orlando, Margarita, Miguel, Maria Teresa, Justo, who are all gone but none are ever forgotten. The only two remainings are, my aunt Bertila along with my uncle and Godfather Osvaldo Soto, who once wrote...
"Cuba, sueño y realidad. Hace anos que sueño con ella. La de las palmas la isla bella que maravillio a Colon. La del bohio, el guajiro y el cafecito obligado. La de las noches por el malecon. La que Marti enseno a sus habitantes a llamarse hermanos y que, de una forma u otra, supieran entenderse y resolver sus diferencias. Pero me despierto y la realidad se impone. Un hombre sin entranas la ha cambiado. No solo la ha destruido materialmente, sino, mas importante, ha sembrado el odio y la traicion. Ha puesto padre contra hijo. Hijo contra padre. Hermano contra hermano. La desconfianza y el resentimiento imperan.
Dios, haz el milagro. Dejame volver a sonar. Convierte mi sueno en realidad.
I will make an attempt at a translation for those who don't speak Spanish. However, there is a link below that does it in many languages.
Cuba, dream, and reality. I've been dreaming about her for years. Of her palms, the beautiful island that marveled Columbus. The grass hut, the farmer, and the forced tiny cup of coffee. The nights by the ocean. The one that Marti taught its inhabitants to call themselves brothers and that, in one way or another, they knew how to understand each other and solve their differences.
But I wake up and reality prevails. A man without entrails has changed her. Not only has it destroyed it materially but, more importantly, it has sown hatred and betrayal. He has put father against son. Son against father. Brother against brother. Mistrust and resentment prevail. God, do the miracle. Let me play again. Turn my dream into reality.
Life goes on, and so it goes... Amen!