My mother Carmen was my mother, mentor, and best friend, but she was also distant. Much like Lara in The Family She Never Met, there were things my mother never shared with me about Cuba and her life there.
Carmen was always at the top of her class in school and was determined to become a lawyer. She was studying at the university in Havana when it was shut down because of the protests that were occurring because of the revolution.
It was my mother’s involvement in Cuban politics that resulted in my father and her having to flee Cuba. They had been advised by a friend with connections that Castro’s people were coming to jail them because they were trying to get Castro out of power.
Once they were in the U.S., it was my mother who was the force in making our American Dream come true. She worked long hours so that we would be able to purchase a home in Levittown and so that my sister and I would be able to go to college.
As I mentioned before, my mother rarely talked about Cuba. I found out a great deal about her life in Cuba after she had passed. The scenes in The Family She Never Met where Jessica sees her mother Lara watching TV and crying are my recollections of seeing my mother cry when she saw a television broadcast from Cuba. It was the first time in over a decade that she was seeing her beloved country.
The stories of how Carmen got together with fellow refugees to help others leave Cuba are also true. My mother and others from her old company in Cuba raised money to help other company employees escape and come to the U.S.
