... assalamualaikum ...
Wahh wahh , dah lama bebeno dah blog ni tak ber-UPDATE . Ishh ishh , pemalas punya Anati . Well then , sekarang memang tengah busy and otak nih pening memikirkan benda yang lebih penting daripada update blog . Teringat pulak my beloved ex-dormmate , Cik Aini Najihah punya quote ,
" Pentingkan yang lebih penting adalah lebih penting daripda
pentingkan yang penting "
Haa tu diaa , cuba sebut laju-laju . Mesti tersasul-sasul kann kann ;) Well , dah jadi fivers nih banyak benda nak kena fikir . Takpe lahh , ni sebagai persediaan nak hadapi dunia luar yang lagilagilagilagilahh MENCABARR . Huuu ~
Actually , hari nihh Anati nak share satu cerita yang Anati came across time tengah study English . Alahhh , buku Twitter tuhh , page 51 . Lepas baca terus Anati google and then rasa macam nak spread the love pulakk . Okayy okayy , here is the story .
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Mercedes Infante Brudnicki, the third finalist in "The Story of My Life" contest, tells her tale of hope, love and a father's unwavering desire to reunite his family in America.
Coming to America for a Better Life
Mercedes says her father, Carlos Infante, was a man who was short in stature but had a huge heart.
"He wasn't handsome or tall or not the kind of man that you would give a second look to," she said."But he was really beautiful inside."
Carlos Infante grew up in Cuba. In 1958, he married his beautiful wife, Elda, and a year later a son, Albert, was born.
The couple were happy, but Carlos yearned for a better life for his family, so in 1960 he left his wife and young son behind and traveled to the United States, where he settled in New York.
"Once he got settled, he sent for my mother," Mercedes said. "But as it turned out winter was just starting [ in New York ]. They weren't used to the cold weather so he thought it would be better if my mother came by herself, left my brother in Cuba and then they would send for him in the spring."
The couple decided to leave little Albert with Carlos's aunt. It was a decision they would regret for the rest of their lives.
Communism Derails the Plan
By the spring, Fidel Castro had declared himself a communist and the United States had ended diplomatic relations with Cuba. No one was allowed to travel in or out of the country. Little Albert was trapped there.
"It's something like you lost one part of your heart," said Elda, Mercedes' mother.
Mercedes remembers how Albert was always present even though he wasn't there physically -- when taking family photos they would hold a picture of her brother so his image was included.
Returning to Find a Lost Son
But then in 1979, nearly 20 years after the family had been separated, there came news that Cuban-Americans were allowed back to visit Cuba. The Infante family was on one of the first planes.
But after so many years, Elda was actually scared to meet her own son.
"My mother says that she was afraid of how Albert would receive her," Mercedes said. "She was afraid that he would reject her. I mean, all those years waiting and missing him and wanting to be with him, she just didn't want to see that in his face."
But the meeting was a joyous one. The family spent 10 days getting reacquainted on the island. They explained to Albert that they never forgot him and had been trying for years to bring him to America.
Carlos Hatches a Plan
It was a journey of discovery, says Mercedes, who said she couldn't believe how much she resembled her long-lost brother.
"We really could be twins. And he looked so much like my father also," she said.
But when the trip was over, they once again had to leave Albert behind. He still wasn't allowed to leave Cuba.
When the Infantes returned to New York, the separation was more painful than ever.
"After we came back, instead of things being better, they were worse," Mercedes said. "Because Mom got a taste of being together, the five of us. And my father just couldn't live another day going by with him [Albert ] not being with us."
So Carlos Infante started scheming. He lost weight and grew out his facial hair. He, too, noticed how much he looked like Albert, and that became the centerpiece of his plan to visit Cuba again later that year.
"My father felt that as a father he was duty-bound to do what he could to get him [ Albert ] here in the United States, and if that meant, you know, he had to sacrifice, well, he sacrificed all his life," Mercedes said.
The Ultimate Sacrifice
The night before leaving for Cuba, Carlos confided his plan to his best friend, Luis Barroso.
"One o'clock in the morning, we sat outside by the water and that's when he told me all his plans," Barroso recalled. "And he said, 'Go to bed and don't talk to this to anyone! And just wait for my phone call.' So I did."
Carlos and Elda traveled alone to Cuba on that second trip. In a taxi on the way to the airport in Havana, Carlos finally informed his wife of his plans -- he would not be going back to America with her. Instead, he was giving his passport and documents to Albert.
In the ultimate sacrifice, Carlos would stay behind in Cuba.
Albert and Elda passed through customs and boarded a plane for Miami. The son was finally free. The father was not so lucky.
Caught
"He got caught," Barroso said.
Carlos was thrown in a Cuban prison and nearly died when he fell into a diabetic coma. It took four months for the family to get him out of Cuba and back home to the United States, where both of his children were now residing.
He nearly lost his life, but to Carlos Infante, as long as his son was in America with his family, it was a sacrifice he was willing to make.
"To do what he did … you had to be more than a man," Barroso said.
To Mercedes, her father, was a giant.
"I do think he was a HERO," she said. "I mean, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the kind of man he was."
Carlos Infante passed away in 2001, but he was able to spend the last 22 years of his life with his entire family in the country that he loved.
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So , that's the story . A sacrification made by a father just to ensure all his family members can gather as one . That's what we called as THE POWER OF LOVE :)
Okayy okayy , got to go now . Banyak kerja menunggu . Esok ada buat sikit makan-makan , err , ala2 open house gitu , so , banyak benda nak disettlekan . Okaylahh , that's all I think . Ohh , and lastly ,
SELAMAT HARI RAYA
MAAF ZAHIR BATIN
... assalamualaikum ...
Bila nk update blog lagiii? :p
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