Who would have guessed that his good memory would have helped my father get his first job in exile?!? Well, it did. One of my aunts knew some English and she wrote this little verse in English: "My name is so and so. I am looking for a job. I have a wife and two children, etc." He repeated that verse out loud so many times so he could learn it that we all did. Well it got him the job. (three jobs actually, a full time, a part time and overtime).

All our families share similar stories, some are funny, some sad but you must always look at the positive side of things. I remember that my mother lost more money taking care of two little babies than what she made as a baby sitter. Their mother born and raised here fed her children a can of Campbell soup a day. My mother got them used to eating her homemade purees and Cuban food. Instead of four mouths now we had to feed six!!!

I also have to tell you about my aunt, the one with the gray hair... When she arrived to Miami, they told her that older people had a difficult time getting a job here. She was young but had salt and pepper hair. The same lady that gave her this advice, gave

her a used brown wig to wear and remedy her problem. Wearing that wig my aunt went to eight street to get a bus and look for a job. She was not used to wearing wigs and the warm weather did not help. Between interviews she would take it off and adjust it to get some fresh air, by the time she got home (still without a job!) she had the wig on backwards and the label was hanging on her forehead. When she saw that, she knew why the "gringos" she interviewed with were smiling all the time.

Memory has helped many of my family members get jobs here. My uncle, may god bless his soul, learned another little verse just to get the gringos to open the doors so he could make his deliveries. "Open di dor, Fachon Impor" (Open the door, Fashion Import). To this day, every time I say open the door, I have to at least whisper Fashion Import right after it. I mean it. Many doctors, professors and businessmen used to dispense gas, wash dishes and clean bathrooms at the beginning of our exile. The most important thing is that we all found jobs and eventually "made it", that is one thing that us Cubans have, determination, drive ......and many stories!!!

This page is a small tribute to my parents. With these words I want to thank and honor them for all their hard work and the sacrifices they made so that we could be free in a country full of opportunities. I extend this tribute to all those that do the same for their families in foreign countries.