In the 1950s Cuba was very tense as the revolution was right around the corner. My grandmother was faced with a decision that would change her life forever. She was working as a nanny for a family that planned to make the journey to the United States. They knew that they would still need a nanny in the U.S. and it made sense for them to take my grandmother with them. My grandmother knew what the state of Cuba would be like in a few years time and had to make the decision of leaving her family to a new and completely different country for a better life. So, she asked God. My grandmother had Jamaican parents and was raised in a very religious Catholic household. She knew that this was what her family would have wanted. With that, she made her journey to America. She tried her best to fit into American culture and learned the language quickly. While she lost her family, her culture, one thing she didn’t lose was her religion. To this day, some 70 years later, my grandmother is a devoted Catholic. Her home is full of religious items including numerous rosaries. Rosaries are used in Catholicism and other Christian faiths for prayer. Religion was very important in Cuba at the time, so while my grandma had to leave her home she was still able to take a part of that home with her. 

– GL

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant