Cuba The First Migration My family s journey to Highlands County began in the fall of 1919. My grandmother s and grandfather s families left their homes in Spain and sailed to Cuba to escape the country s political turmoil. Shortly after the families arrived in Cuba, my grandparents met, got married, and began to raise their two children, my mother and my uncle. My father s family had immigrated to Cuba from the Canary Islands many years earlier. By the late 1950s my parents had married and were raising their two children, my older brother and me. Havana, Cuba The Flores Family, 1950s, (L-R) Robert, Maria, Alfredo, and Alfredo Jr. My early childhood memories of Cuba were wonderful. I lived in Havana with ideal weather, beautiful beaches, festivals, and Mardi Grass. By 1961 things had changed dramatically in my ideal world. My private school was closed, the principal was jailed, our church was boarded up, and all commodities became scarce. In April 1961, the streets were in an uproar as the Communists said, Stay in your houses, the Americans, will be launching a Havana, Cuba surprise attack on us at Giron Bay.
It became known later as the Bay of Pigs. Of course, things got worse for those who were not Communist sympathizers, like my family. The harassment ranged from the Communist youth marching and shouting Communist slogans in front of our house, scaring us by leaving snakes on our porch, to unannounced searches of our home by the local militia. We were under constant surveillance by the local Communist party. Early in 1962, my parents began to look for exit strategies for our family. One option they considered was repatriating to Spain. Another was placing my brother and me in the Peter Pan Program, a CIA children relocation program. The final option was to apply for asylum in the United States which had become extremely difficult to qualify for. However, our family was blessed by owning a 1959 Ford Fairlane with extra chrome! It just so happened that one of the high ranking Communists wanted that Ford Fairlane more than he wanted us. He informed my dad that he would help us with the documentation to go to the United States, if my Ford Fairlane dad assured him that he would be left the owner of our Ford Fairlane! The Second Migration By the middle of October 1962, this 8 year old and his family were at the airport, ready to board a TWA DC3 bound for Miami with only the clothes
on our backs, leaving our families behind forever. Forty-five minutes New York and two sick bags later, we landed at Miami International Airport. The realization of what was going on began to settle in when I looked out onto the runway from the terminal and wondered in fear what lay ahead. A friend of my father s picked us up, took us to a hotel which he had paid for, and gave my dad Robert Flores, 9, receives his First Communion. $10 to feed us until the next day. My father s sister, who left Cuba some years earlier, had purchased airline tickets for my family to New York where she lived. The next day we boarded a Whisper Jet to New York, arriving that evening at my aunt s house. We settled in, and my aunt turned on the nightly news, where we saw President John F. Kennedy. My aunt explained that he was discussing the missile crisis and that he announced the total embargo of Cuba, meaning no one else was getting out. We were among the last of the families allowed to leave Cuba, until 18 years later when the Mariel boatlift exodus of April 1980 took place. Many challenges were still ahead. None of my immediate family spoke or understood English. We knew nothing about American customs. We had no money, no jobs, and no clothes, with winter approaching quickly. That first winter in New York was difficult. We all had to endure many hardships. My family rented an attic room that had a large mattress and one electrical outlet. The only place that you could stand upright was next to the door. The restroom was down the hall, which we shared with other families in the building. My dad would plug a hotplate into that one outlet, heat a large can of Campbell s soup, and with four Styrofoam cups and four plastic spoons dinner would be served.
Life got better! We got to Chicago in the spring of 1963. I still didn t know much English, but the elementary school I went to had a Japanese-born teacher who had taken Spanish, and I could communicate with her. We lived in a German/ chicago Swedish neighborhood on the north side of Chicago. The extreme kindness and caring of all the families, the excitement of the city, the museums, the professional sports, add to my fond memories of the eight years that we lived there. I learned a lot about the northern European culture from the local families, and I finally learned English. But most importantly, because I loved baseball, I became a bleacher bum at Wrigley Field! By 1969 my parents had jobs, we had a car, and we went on a family vacation to Florida! We were living the American dream! My parents fell in love with Florida, and in 1971 we moved to West Palm Beach. My brother and I went to school there, and I started working in what used to be a small tourist town. My mother worked as a seamstress for an interior decorator, who hired me to help out. I spent my days working in some of the most exclusive I wanted to do something more with my During his years in Nashville, Robert was able to spend time at the Grand Ole Opry and many music recording studios. He met many celebrities like Dolly Parton, Carol Burnett, James Brown, and Loretta Lynn. homes in Palm Beach; however, I knew that life, so I enrolled in a journeyman carpenter training program. After completing the program, I chose to work as a finish carpenter. By 1979 I had become a qualified millwright. I had seen an ad for Gibson Guitar Nashville looking for millwrights in Nashville, Tenn. I was unsuccessful in landing a job with
them from West Palm, so I moved to Nashville and took odd jobs until I was able to get a job at Gibson. After a year and a half working for Gibson, they informed all the millwrights that they were purchasing a robot that would replace all of our jobs. I asked if they would send me to school to learn how to operate the robot and, surprisingly, they said yes. I got my degree in computer programming and stayed at Gibson. During my years there, I was able to spend time at the Grand Ole Opry and many music recording studios. Once again, I was looking for a new challenge. I became a full-time student and started working on my bachelor s degree. I Florida stayed in Nashville until I graduated in 1987. After Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Robert shares graduation day with his family, including his parents, Alfredo and Maria. Robert received his doctorate in public administration in 2005. graduation, not having any job prospects or money, I moved back to West Palm Beach. After a few years of odd jobs, I landed a job with Palm Beach Community College in 1989 and began my career in the Avon Park, Fla. (L-R) Hope, Krista, Robert, Anna, and Monica Flores. public sector. I fell in love with education and wanted to be an educator. I got my master s degree and began teaching as an adjunct. However, I didn t find the fulfillment I was seeking. I set my sights on a new course, public administration. I began to pursue my doctorate in public administration. I kept my day job at Palm Beach Community College. By now I had been promoted to a district supervisor, assisting the director. In 1998, I was hired by South Florida Community College as the director of maintenance and moved my family to Highlands County,