Tarmac

This is one of a thousand stories dealing with the transition from innocence toa maturity stage where unforeseen events forced this change to occur sooner andfaster than expected. The death of a father forcing an older brother to becomethe strong figure in a family, the absence of both parents often causes the samecircumstances. In my case it was a sudden change in government brought by arevolution and followed by family separation in exile at an early age. I have oftenheard so many similar stories from older Jewish friends about the fragmentationof families during the Nazi era. The name changes to save a life, the denialsof ethnicity and religion in order to survive. The quest for Gods given freedomdoes not know ethnic background or frontiers. My story is no different fromthose who have risked everything to live in a free society. We often associatethese stories with Nazi Germany, Communist China or the old Soviet Union. Its hard to conceive, yet a reality that the same circumstances could happen justninety miles from our shores in a country that was always ( and I believe stillis) traditionally and culturally strongly linked to the United States. I write thisbook with dual purpose. One is to pour my heart out and leave a written legacyon my experience to my children. As much as a father tries to explain verbally,time tends to erase the memories. The second purpose is to serve as an inspirationto all those who today seek freedom. Every human being should have freedomto worship, freedom to speak their minds and express their opinions, freedomto travel, freedom to prosper in abundance and decide who their elected leaderswill be through free elections. These freedoms still do no exist in Cuba today. Inspite of some recent cosmetic changes and Castros mummified state, his youngerbrother is still preaching the same lies designed to create an illusion of change. After more than fifty years of totalitarian government, the Castro brothers alongwith their puppets in Venezuela and Panama still rule like old dinosaurs froma bygone era.