I want to dedicate this story to my dear friend Dalaina, AKA @bonbonsandbooks as she inspired me to write this story, (also go check hers out, it's really good!)
Now onto the story...
It was 1973. Cuban sisters Safira and Soledad were preparing to go to America with their husbands, to escape the brutal regime of dictator Fidel Castro. Some of their relatives had already made it to Florida, and they were both keen to get there, especially since they were both pregnant with their first child and wanted to give them the best start in life.
Soledad and Safira married their husbands in the late 1960s, and on February 21st, 1972, Benito and Soledad's first daughter Cassandra was born in Havana, as well as by Emilio and Safira's daughter, Danielle on the same date, also in Havana.
As sad as they were to leave their homeland, they were excited to start a new and better life. They got on that plane bound for Miami, Florida in early 1973, among the last of the so-called "Freedom Flights", and never looked back.
Their mother, Leticia greeted them at the airport along with their other sister Juanita, and grandmother, Rosa. They told Safira and Soledad about how beautiful Miami was, and they certainly saw the beauty in it, the beaches, palm tress, what wasn't to like?
Everyone in the family settled in what was now known as "Little Havana", getting it's name from the multitude of Cuban refugees who migrated there, starting in the 60s. Soledad felt she couldn't have moved to a better place - it felt like she was home as even though she was in a foreign country, she was surrounded by fellow Cubans.
Initially, the American people weren't so welcoming, and most Cubans only spoke Spanish, so there was a language barrier, but by the time the sisters came to America with their babies, things had gotten better, as the Cuban-American community was well-established by then. And now they were so happy at being able to replicate what life was like in Cuba before the dictatorship, with the restaurants and various other establishments.
"This is muy bueno!" Said Rosa, excitedly. "This is the biggest adventure I ever had!"
"What about that time you went to the Bahamas?" Asked her daughter, Leticia. "You were only 15, and your parents were so mad!"
"But this is America, querida." Said Rosa. "This is something extra."
Rosa was quite the adventurer when she was younger, constantly wondering off wanting to explore, worrying her parents sick!
"My parents would be proud of me now, niña." Said Rosa. "If I hadn't explored I wouldn't know so much about our Cuba let alone our surrounding countries. My parents never so much as left Havana!"
The cousins grew up very close to one another. They were so close that everyone who wasn't their family thought they were sisters. But they were very much like sisters, even though more siblings followed, they still thought of each other as sisters.
Everyone in both Cassandra and Danielle's large families moved to Cuba. Not a single member was left there. The girls grew up speaking Spanish, only speaking English when they went to school. They went to a prestigious Catholic school for girls, and attended Mass at the Gesu Catholic Church every Sunday.
One day, when the girls were 5 years old, they were playing in a park one day when a mature-aged couple approached them. They listened to everything they had to tell her:
"The bad news is, we are all sinners. (Romans 3:23.) We all deserve to be punished in hell for our sins. But the good news is, Jesus Christ who is God's Son died on the cross for your sins. He was buried & rose again on the third day to give you eternal life in heaven as a free gift. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4. Romans 6:23.) Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. (Acts 16:31.) Going to Heaven is a FREE GIFT, so it's not what you do it's what Jesus did. He loves you, and He paid for ALL our sins, past present and future! All you have to do is believe on Him, trust in His finished work."
The girls believed the Good News and God saved them. They were so happy, and even though they were only 5, they knew exactly what the couple were talking about and when the couple asked where the girls' parents were the couple decided to try get them saved while the girls played, only to be suddenly whisked away by their parents, who just didn't understand it at the time. And because the girls were only 5, their parents were able to pull them back into the Catholic belief system, rendering their daughters babes in Christ for many years.
She loved art, however, and had a lot of Catholic art in her room, including but not exclusive to, a beautiful, painted sculpture of the life of Christ featuring 5 prominent scenes. She also had a small Virgin Mary doll and an icon of her patron saint, St Cecilia.
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Danielle had similar items in her room, and they loved going to Mass. Danielle's parents opened up a restaurant, reminiscent of Cuba before the revolution, hence it was called "Cuba Del Pasado". It was a beautiful restaurant where Quinceañeras were often booked.
Cassandra's parents were both in the medical field. Her father was an orthopedic surgeon, and her mother was a obstetrician.
