Once I had my known search parameters, I seached the internet incessantly. As search engines grew more powerful, so did my ability to see connections, leads, possible avenues to explore. Left with a spare half hour, I could be found on Ancestry.com, reading through lists of ship's rolls for possible Cuban names, or sending shot-in-the-dark emails to Cuban ex-pat golf leagues in Miami. I became very good at summarizing my story & along the way, I met many wonderful people who wanted to help, just because they couldn't imagine not knowing their own families.
I remember one particular email that I received back.
I had sent an email to a golf league in Miami (I'll explain Miami in a minute) detailing my story and asking if they would forward it to their members. The president of the league responded affirmatively, even adding that he would be happy to also send it to another league he was also in charge of--one for baseball afficionados that had several thousand members. About a week later, I received an email from a man in Spain in response to my story. Shaking, I nearly fainted as I read what I thought said "I can understand your urgency as I am your father" in Spanish. Upon re-reading and consulting with far more fluent Spanish-speakers than myself, I found that the sentence actually said "I can understand your urgency as I am A father." It was a lovely, encouraging note that provided no real information, but was a fantastic uplifter at a moment when I really needed one.
Ah, Miami! That was a tangent I spent at least two years focused on, figuring it made sense statistically as the largest population of Cubans in the US live in the greater Miami area. Nevermind that nothing in my history, not from Catholic Charities or what my parents remember being told at the time of my adoption, indicated that my history had any relation to Miami. I was playing the odds and hoping for a miracle. Sometimes when you search, there are lots of roads that ultimately lead to nowhere. You have to be willing to fail, and fail multiple times, and not take it personally.
I remember one particular email that I received back.
I had sent an email to a golf league in Miami (I'll explain Miami in a minute) detailing my story and asking if they would forward it to their members. The president of the league responded affirmatively, even adding that he would be happy to also send it to another league he was also in charge of--one for baseball afficionados that had several thousand members. About a week later, I received an email from a man in Spain in response to my story. Shaking, I nearly fainted as I read what I thought said "I can understand your urgency as I am your father" in Spanish. Upon re-reading and consulting with far more fluent Spanish-speakers than myself, I found that the sentence actually said "I can understand your urgency as I am A father." It was a lovely, encouraging note that provided no real information, but was a fantastic uplifter at a moment when I really needed one.
Ah, Miami! That was a tangent I spent at least two years focused on, figuring it made sense statistically as the largest population of Cubans in the US live in the greater Miami area. Nevermind that nothing in my history, not from Catholic Charities or what my parents remember being told at the time of my adoption, indicated that my history had any relation to Miami. I was playing the odds and hoping for a miracle. Sometimes when you search, there are lots of roads that ultimately lead to nowhere. You have to be willing to fail, and fail multiple times, and not take it personally.
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