Above left: Reemberto at 2 years old (1959) wears the penguin costume made by his mother who continued to sew after moving to the US. The picture was taken by Japon, the only photographer in the small town of Real Campiña. Photo from the Rodriguez family archive.
Below left: This picture, a Rodriguez family classic, was taken in Real Campiña only a couple of years after the Revolution when Reemberto was three and a half years old. Reemberto (center) is surrounded by his brothers Rafael and Lino and his cousins Ibrahim and Chuchi. They are wearing the uniforms of a Havana team, the Almandares. Photo from the Rodriguez family archive.
Geraldina describes how and why her family left Cuba. Click arrow at right for transcription.
"And so right after the... [in] Cuba, when Fidel takes power... My dad was a judge in Cuba. And it became quite clear to him that he just could not stay there. So he resigned his--being a judge, and his whole profession and started to try to leave. It took us quite a number of years to do that, and we had to leave in a different kind of way. My sister, the one that was already here [in America], brought us over, but we had to come through Spain. So we lived in Spain for nine months and then were able to come, and enter into the U.S. So it was again, because of the political situation, it became... my dad just would have died there if he had stayed. They really gave him hell, to try to get out.
Above: Geraldina in Havana in 1965.
Photos from the Dominguez family archive.
Geraldina’s parents, Mario Julian Dominguez Vizcaino and Geraldina Varela Ramirez de Dominguez at a New Year’s celebration in Havana, Cuba 1957. Photo from the Dominguez family archive.
At right:
While Nancy was in the US, her mother wrote to her on Mother’s Day and said:
Mi Nancy, sólo faltas tu para que en esta foto tomada el “Día de las Madres” mi corazón y mis brazos estuvieran llenos de lo que representa mi vida entera; mis tres hijos. Mil besos de tus hermanitos y tu mamá. mayo 14 1961 Habana
My Nancy, in this photo from Mother’s Day, only you are missing so that my heart and arms would be filled with the meaning of my whole life; my three children. One thousand kisses from your sister and brother and your mom. May 14, 1961 Havana
Above: Nancy and Geraldina in Havana, 1965.
After Castro’s rise to power, Geraldina’s older sister Nancy was sent to the United States along with many other children, similar to the Pedro Pan program (1960-1962). This program sent more than 14,000 Cuban children to the U.S. to keep them safe, especially the children of parents who were fighting the new regime underground. Nancy left Cuba in 1961 and was reunited with her family eight years later. Photo from the Dominguez family archive.
Geraldina in her mother's lap, with sister Nancy on the right.
Reemberto tells the story of meeting Geraldina in Atlanta in the 1970s. Click arrow at right for transcription.
In 1978-- I admit it, I like all kinds of music I said earlier, and I love disco music, totally love disco music. So I go to the disco... and I see this young lady and I say, "Oh, she must be Cuban. She has to be Cuban." I asked her to get on the dance floor with me, and she said yes, so we danced the night away. As part of the introductions I tell her that I'm a senior, and she said that she's a senior also! We knew each other then for the next few weeks, but it wasn't until about a month later that I realized... I was a senior in college, but she was a senior in high school. So, [to Geraldina] did I lie?
Geraldina: "No, I didn't lie either!"
Reemberto talks about moving to Silver Spring and the community atmosphere that appealed to them. Click arrow at right for transcription.
Silver Spring, to us, we came up this way from Atlanta, Georgia because we basically had a mid-life crisis. It was wonderful that it hit us both at the same time. We ended up here in the summer of 2004, in this house, where we thought we were going to be for a few months and then move somewhere else. But, we love it. This is our community. We've stumbled across an amazing Latino community, predominantly Salvadoran, and I mentioned our Ethiopian community and friends, and people from all over. It is so cool to go to Veterans Plaza, or walk around Takoma Park, or at Sligo Golf Course, when they have the little festivals or concerts there, and you see people from everywhere! We love to walk, and (walk our dog every day for two hours) we run across people from everywhere. The intentional diversity of Silver Spring is something we've grown to love.
Reemberto with University of Maryland architecture students in Havana, December 2023.
Reemberto and Geraldina in their Silver Spring home. March, 2023. Photograph by Maria Sprehn.