Thread by @CBoomerVazquez

#Voices from #SOSCuba: At The Pointe of North Gables Assisted Living Community they came out in walkers and wheelchairs with an energetic burst of Cuban flag-waving while chanting: ‘Patria y Vida’. (THREAD)

They spoke - through smiles - through tears - of the wait….
A lifetime of wait….
A hope that this may just be the moment…that Cuba will finally be free… #SOSCuba

A desire that perhaps they can return home. “That we are going to be free, I am going to be able to return and die there.” - Andres Torres, 77-years-old
…with a peace of spirit knowing they witnessed freedom…#SOSCuba

A wish that in their final years - they can visit the homes they left - reunite with family - and perhaps - God willing they say - even help Cuba recover and rebound from decades of dictatorship. “I would like to go back there and fix everything.” -Pedro de Cespedes, 96yo

For so many who left Cuba in the early years of Fidel Castro’s dictatorship  - the move here they thought - would be temporary. “They went away with that dream,” said 72yo Terri Martinez whose family fled Cuba when she was 4yo, “they always, always, wanted to go back.” #SOSCuba

In the more than 60 years that followed - they built businesses and families - but in all that change - a daily tug at the heart of what had not: their beloved Cuba was still not free. They never made it back home. Pictured: 74yo Acela Amador #SOSCuba

Now - in the twilight of what has been a lifetime dream - a hope - that in this unprecedented moment of protest - a free Cuba may just happen - and that they can finally return to the land they love. #SOSCuba

“For them this is life, nothing more important than a free country,” said The Pointe co-owner Zeus Hernandez. He came here at 8yo on the Mariel Boatlift of 1980. He said they planned the demonstration “so that way they can participate” and be part of the #SOSCuba movement.

16yo Zeus Hernandez, Jr. said he appreciates the hard work + sacrifices of the generations before him - the courage it took to flee #Cuba and start from scratch in #America. “When I look at them I give them my upmost respect because I know all the struggles they went through.”

#SOSCuba

https://twitter.com/christinawplg/status/1415886611460628480