When Cuba Was Free

My grandmother was pregnant with my father when Cuba was free. A few weeks ago he turned fifty three. My mother was only five months old. My grandfather owned his grocery store in Havana. Dwight Eisenhower was president. Not many people in America had heard the name John F. Kennedy yet. Errol Flynn and Ernest Hemingway were traveling to Cuba. Elvis Presley was one of the biggest celebrities in popular culture. The space race was on. The spread of communism was a big threat. When Cuba was free the world was a totally different place.

Back home in Tampa the interstate highway had yet to split historic Ybor City in two.  Nick Nuccio was mayor of Tampa. Dick Greco Jr. was still simply Dick Greco Jr.  Maas Brothers was Mass Brothers and Wolf Brothers was one of Tampa’s premier clothing stores. Tampa had original streetcar tracks in the streets, unused and rotting and part of the whole “disappearing streetcar mystery” that had plagued so many other cities in America.

When Cuba was free neighbors knew their neighbors and people respected each other and young teenagers in trouble still feared the wrath of their fathers more than the police. The world was a little more innocent. Television was wholesome. Spending time at the dinner table with your family actually meant something. A dollar was worth something. People still had faith in their government. That “Greatest Generation” that I often mention was helping build the America of the future. There was no more depression rather an America that kept moving forward. The Fabulous Fifties are called the Fabulous Fifties because they were exactly that. Meanwhile, back in the Sierra Maestra, Fidel Castro was planning a revolution.

The original message was to rid Cuba of the Batista regime. The promise was that there would soon be elections. The reality was that communism had come to Cuba. On January 1, 1959, Fidel and company entered Havana. Batista fled the island. Fifty-three years later we arrive at where we are at today. That particular New Year’s Day was the turning point in modern Cuban history. The country froze that day and has stayed frozen ever since.

I have often called Cuba the last “untouched territory” in the world. Well over 1.7 million Cubans have immigrated to the United States seeking a better life. My grandparents and my mother are three immigrants whom I know best. My grandmother tells me how she and my mother were given tourist visas to travel to Jamaica in 1961. From there they flew to Miami. My grandfather stayed behind to see what would become of Cuba. A few months later he contacted my grandmother in Miami with the words, “me lo quitaron todo” which translates to “they took everything away”. Soon after, he arrived in Miami and took a job delivering bread. My grandparents spoke very little English and my mother was a little Cubanita who was soon to turn four years old.

Like so many families my family went from a comfortable middle class living to the bottom of the barrel, but like so many Cuban refugees who came to America they worked hard and created an even better life here. My grandmother has never returned to Cuba. She has no interest in seeing what has become of her country. My grandfather died in 1984 and never had the opportunity to go back. My mother is interested in one day visiting the place where she and her mother were born and where they lived and the grocery store they used to own.

When Cuba was free Disneyland in California was still brand new. Owning a Cadillac meant you had money. World War II was still fresh in our heads. The majority of America had never even heard of Vietnam. The threat of nuclear war was real and I was not a twinkle in anyone’s eyes.

When Cuba was free the world was a totally different place and here we are, fifty-three years later, waiting and watching. The newest American car in Cuba might be a 1958 or 1959 model. Many American presidents have died over the years and many administrations have changed hands. My grandmother is a lot older now. She was thirty four years old when she left. She turned eighty five last month. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans living in America have passed away and were never given another chance to see a free Cuba.

Today, we continue waiting and hoping for communism to pass and for the day we see “libertad para Cuba”, but how much longer must we wait? Castro is old now. He is the last remaining key player in the revolution. I believe that when he passes the idea of the revolution will die with him and with his death we will see a transitioning to democracy and Cuba will once again be free.