Cuba-Lights Out: A Cuban Memoir of Betrayal and Survival: April 2025

FILLED TO THE RIM

1970- Walking into a room full of newly arrived Cubans and Cubans who arrived in the US in the 1960s promises to be, I assure you, an experience you won't forget.

Simultaneous heated conversations with each person trying to outdo the other, trembling hands holding cups filled to the rim with café Cubano flying across the air, their content spilled without prejudice, and feet stomping the floor from raised knee highs are just the beginning of a long evening. When a dry stem of straw succumbs to the fire, another ignites. It can go on for hours!

Young ones try not to giggle when a woman describes how she would put Fidel in a cage and make sure he dies a slow, painful death; a pellizco, pinch here, a pinch there……..

To walk into a room full of Cubans during this time in history is to walk into a room of broken hearts, filled to the rim and overflowing with pain and anger.

April 26, 2025

The Old and the New

"I said let's go. We'll stop at Teresita's house," my sister says, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of my seat and out of the theater.

Calle Frexes, where Teresita lives, is a street of contrast. One side boasts big, old Spanish colonial houses without portals. The windows and wrought iron verandas reach the floor, and, like our house, the front doors open to the sidewalk.

The opposite side of the street is lined with two-story, modern duplexes. Teresita and her family live on the second floor of a duplex. The gate at the entrance, always open, is an invitation into the tiled courtyard garden full of tropical greenery of all sizes. A refreshing feeling invades all my senses as soon as I walk in, I could stay in this cool, inviting spot forever. The stairs to the second floor are against the wall to the right and lead to a spacious balcony. The new doesn't show signs of decay yet.

The block window spy across the street is at her post. Before entering the courtyard, I cast my gaze on her. This is my way of fighting back; a silent gaze speaks volumes. I know what you are doing.

The inside of the house is as enchanting as the courtyard. It is modern, and the couch is upholstered—they call it a divan. Everyone I know has solid wood mission furniture. There’s a piano! In the dining room, a hidden stairway leads to the first-floor unit. "Woo-hoo!" Memories of crawling through the narrow stairs with its dark, low ceiling, cobwebs, and damp smell are out of a mystery movie. It wasn't long ago, but I know doing it again won't feel the same.

April 25, 2025

Pot Day Flight

For most people, especially those who have endured a long, frigid, icy, and snowy winter, April brings a welcome sigh of relief. People are itching to put a pair of shorts on and go out there without their hats, gloves, and winter coats. Sure, it's still cold, and the roads can be slippery in the morning, but the snowstorms and blizzards are behind us, at least for the next seven to eight months.

Looking out my kitchen window early in the morning, there's no better sign spring is just around the corner than the colors, song, and dance the American Robin brings. Their bright orange-reddish breasts, cheer-me-up song, and quick dance across the grass erase the blinding white of snow and the grayness of slush. The skies are still gray on most days, but we know something wonderful and long-awaited is coming; spring and then summer.

Yes, April is the month of ends and beginnings. Although I enjoy the beauty and message the Robins bring and join millions in anticipation of spring and summer, April is not one of my favorite months.

For me, April came with the dreadful knock on our door on a typical bright, sunny day; the heart-wrenching goodbye to family, friends, and home, the leaving behind of sunshine in the tropics, and the beginning of a new life and a new home in gray, cold, depressing Western New York.

On this day, fifty-five years ago, I left the warmth of home, Cuba, and arrived in the United States on a US-sponsored Freedom Flight.

At every end, there's a beginning. This year, April 20th falls on Easter Sunday.