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.