But first, a few words ...
In the early months of 1980, a vacation to Cuba was planned by
myself and a fellow postal worker, waaaay back when I was
a postal worker. Throughout the latter stages, Kathy and I sniggered
between ourselves that we were expecting Fidel, himself, to greet us on the
tarmac. He would heartily shake our hands and, smiling broadly, welcome us in Spanish to
his lovely island. Before taking his leave, he would personally bestow upon each of us a
couple of, yes, you've already guessed, handmade Cuban cigars.
This, of course, was our knee-jerk response to
Kathy's mother's concern. We were about to venture into dreaded Communist territory. For
an immigrant of Eastern European descent, who'd somehow lived through World War II, her
daughter's proposed vacation was a fearsome event, indeed.
We were young then, and rebellious, too. I have
subsequently, however, come to understand Kathy's mother's perspective. I've lived through
situations that have given me greater respect for the school-of-hard-knocks experiences of
others. Call it growing up, call it walking in the shoes of others. Call it whatever you
choose. Her suffering was something of which we made light, and is now something about
which I feel sorry.
For us at the time, though, it was more than any
adventure could possibly be. It had become our personal quest to be leaving another
inexplicably cold Alberta winter behind. The escape was to be for only two weeks, to be
sure, but they were to be two weeks of beaches, beaches and, hopefully, more sultry
beaches than even we could imagine.
Politics aside, whether of the 1800s, 1950s, '80s or
the late '90s, I must remark that the warmth of Cuba's beaches in 1980 was matched,
surpassed even, by the warmth her people.
The following pages deliberately feature photos only
due to my not being able to remember the names or locations of many of the places shown.
As well, I was unacquainted with the people in the photos, so they remain nameless.
This photo essay is dedicated to the people of Cuba,
then, now, always ...
