If they could see me now!

I was a very active kid in Cuba. I remember climbing up onto the roof on a regular basis -- that's where I kept my treasures hidden, behind a lose brick on the old non-working chimney. I used to climb up on the tapia, a wall that separated the houses in our neighborhood, and walk from my house at the beginning of the block to my friend's house at the other end of the block. It was also a handy way to get guayabas from a neighbor's tree, or platanos from the neighbor behind our house. (They knew and offered their fruits to the kids, I wasn't stealing.)

But I never had the opportunity to jump on a trampoline of any kind while growing up. Actually, I never saw one until I was an adult. Well, my sister insisted I jump on her trampoline a few years ago and I tried to get up there but there was no way my slow and stiff and heavy body was going to even get on the thing, let alone jump on it. Years of sitting behind a computer and then a bout with thyroid cancer had left me really sluggish and stiff and sore and just plain unable to lift myself unto the trampoline.

But if they could see me now! Not only did I get on it, I jumped on it, and I kept on jumping until it was dark and I had laughed so hard that I could barely breathe and my sides were hurting. I feel like I've been to a gym!

Now We Know

So now the whole world has seen that Fidel is still alive. Some are crying, some are saying "I told you so," and some don't care because it doesn't matter, Fidel doesn't matter. Cuba still suffers, whether Fidel is there or not. Nothing has changed.

That must be the worst feeling in the world, to know that after all is said and done, you don't matter. And Fidel must surely know that now. Just as we know he's still around, he knows we don't care. What we care about is a free Cuba, a free people, a free land. We don't care about Fidel.

But I care. I don't care about Fidel the dictator — he can rot in hell (and surely must be rotting already with all those reported surgeries and all he's going through). I care about Fidel the human being that God created a long time ago with the same potential with which He created me and the rest of the humans on this planet.

I would like to see Fidel pay for all he's done. But more than that, I'd like to see him change his life before he dies. I'd like to see him preach the gospel of Jesus before he dies. And I'd like to see him beg for forgiveness. I'd like to see him use his great powers of declamation in a truly worthy cause just once in his life.

Cuba saved Reagan?

Two days ago, "Castro" claimed the US had fooled the world with the 9/11 business.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20732123/

At the end of that article, a single sentence mentions how Castro once saved President Reagan's life by providing information that led to the arrest of several terrorrists. A few more details have emerged I guess. According to this MSNBC article, Cuba once provided the Reagan government the evidence needed to avoid an assassination attempt on the US president in North Carolina. Hmmm. Someone in Cuba's ranting. What are they trying to show now? That Cuba has, or had at some time, good will towards the United States?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20751501/?GT1=10357

Why commedians love him

It's easy to see why comedians love our current president. Check out the clips someone put together for the world to enjoy.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pa3J-L29iT8

Kiss Today Goodbye

I'm having a weird day. The temperature went down considerably overnight and this morning is chilly. I love it. But it makes me feel like summer is going by very fast.
It doesn't help that last week we had school orientation for the kids and we were overloaded with information about the upcoming school year and life after high school.
Yes, I have a child that age.
A very old song came to mind and has stuck there. An old Marvin Hamlisch song — What I Did For Love. But I like the first line better than the title.

Kiss today goodbye
the sweetness and the sorrow
wish me luck the same to you
but I can't regret what I did for love, what I did for love

Look my eyes are dry
The gift was ours to borrow
It's as if we always knew
And I won't forget what I did for love, what I did for love

Gone, love is never gone
As we carry on, love's what we'll remember

Kiss today goodbye
And point me toward tomorrow
we did what we had to do
Won't forget, can't regret what I did for love

What I did for love
What I did for love

Gone, love is never gone
And we carry on, love's what we'll remember

Kiss today goodbye
And point me toward tomorrow
we did what we had to do
Won't forget, can't regret what I did for love

What I did for love
What I did for love

Memories of Tocororo

I didn't realize how much I loved my crazy little brother-in-law. For years we argued -- family stuff, his behavior, dropping out of high school. Well, in his typical fashion he told me that he wasn't going to learn anything (he used less clean words) in american schools because he'd already learned more in Cuba. He was 16 when he arrived and he thought he knew everything. I told him to at least learn english and if he couldn't manage that, he'd never be anything here or do anything important. Within a year he was speaking spanglish, just the way he wrote it. I tried to challenge him to speak only english, and he could, but he just didn't want to. He wanted his own style. He loved the United States, but he loved his Cuba. He could never forget his homeland. Most people his age after 5 years here are pretty much adapted to the culture. In a way he was, but not completely. And he loved it when my husband told me I'm not cuban enough because I came here too young and don't know as much about my homeland as they do. He had a great laugh too.

Tocororo Libre - photos

Here's a link to the news article about his death.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/07/dad_dies_after_saving_11yearol.html

One thing is wrong: his son David is 10 years old.

Tocororo Libre

Tocororo Libre has passed away. He was just 33 years old. He was a great dad, a loving husband and son, a funny brother, a caring uncle. He was also opinionated, as many who knew his blog, Spanglish a lo Cubano, will agree. We'll miss him.