We had a "Government Neighborhood Committee" in every block of my birthplace city of Cienfuegos, and they somehow knew more about your household and the people who lived in it, than you did! I will always remember that our sound of silence had brought panic into my soul. We were all living in a daily fear that the news about my impending departure from Cuba would be known. Only my parents, older brother and older sister knew what was going on. I was finally notified, with only a few days notice, that I had a seat on a Pan Am plane leaving for Miami on September 12, 1961.

These days of anxiety, panic and fear, I had not lived until now with the isolation and the #stayhome living rules we live in. I sometimes feel despair, and then I turn to my faith and prayers to feel that we are indeed in God's plan, and He will not allow fear to triumph over our faith, hopes and love for Him and from one another. My Christian religious beliefs, which are based on the the three fundamental truths mentioned of Faith, Hope and Love, are directly responsible for my surviving these present days of isolation, anxiety and fear. This too will come to pass, and then I will go back to being a "touching" and "hugging" grandpapa! Suffice to know that being unable to share physically with my kids and grandkids, is the biggest sacrifice of all!!"