Another anniversary of the April 1961 Bay of Pigs story and more reasons to remember our parents.  

Our father passed away a few years ago, so I can only remember all of those wonderful conversations we had about Cuba.  I did call my mother and said hello.  She is 90 and will turn 91 in May.

From the very beginning, the U.S. has been a nation of immigrants.  In other words, we are one big “melting pot” of people who came here, settled into their new culture and built this land.

Our friend Jorge Ponce recently posted his thoughts on growing up Cuban in the U.S.:

“I know that I would not have become the man that I am today without the sacrifices that my parents made so that I and my sister could live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

Jorge is right.  We owe a great deal to our parents.

Our experience is unique because our parents never planned to come to the U.S.  Most of them were happy in Cuba and never entertained the thought of leaving their homeland and starting all over again.

Also, our parents left Cuba to give their kids a chance to grow up in a free country.  As I’ve said before, our parents saw communism “eye to eye” and concluded that their kids deserved something better.

Most of us have been here 30 to 50-plus years.  We’ve grown up in the U.S. and have Americanized ourselves, like previous immigrants.  Nevertheless, we’ve always had a warm place in our heart for Cuba, because that’s something that our parents always loved talking about.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.