Jorge from Cuba

When Lorena and I first got married, we lived in Boynton Beach, Florida because I had a job there with Motorola. We went to our annual church convention at Apopka the first year we were there and met an older couple who had come over from Cuba in the early sixties a few years after Fidel Castro’s bloody takeover. The older couple had son named Jorge who I had previously met, I think mostly just at gospel meetings when I lived in Atlanta in 1988. Jorge and his parents spoke Spanish with a beautiful Cuban accent. Both Jorge and his folks had been down to Mexico to the convention that is just a few blocks away from Lorena’s parent’s home in Monterrey. Lorena talked to Conchita last night on Skype. She says she remembers Jorge very well and that he ran around with Lorena’s uncle Valentin when he was down there.

Last week, I had a chance to visit a little with both Jorge and his beautiful daughter, Lydia. Jorge maintains a wonderful blog here.  There is a lot to commend the blog.  I was amazed with a beautiful picture of one of my favorite small cities in the world, Las Cruces, New Mexico on a post he made about the meanings of a bunch of places in America with Spanish names.  You can find that here.  My favorite post though, by far, is this one.  It is a speech Jorge has given a number of times as a guest speaker at naturalization ceremonies for new American citizens.  It is very inspiring.

July 13, 2004 – Marion County Fair
July 14, 2004 – Kelly wins the talent show