Cuba Libre

In 1994 I was working for the U.S. Navy.  I was aboard a ship off the coast of Florida.  One night I was in the Combat Information Center looking at the radar displays when one display caught my eye.  It was a large display that showed surface vessels.  The expanse of ocean between the tip of Florida and the island of Cuba was filled with hundreds of symbols.  Each symbol represented a small boat, raft, or makeshift, often barely seaworthy, vessel holding the lives of Cubans seeking freedom.  You could not see the shear numbers and not be moved.

Twenty years later I watched the President announce the first steps toward normalization of relations with Cuba.  It's about time!  When the embargo is finally rescinded, the Wife and I will be there.  We will celebrate the freedom of the Cuban people and explore their culture and history.  It will be a wonderful day.

Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, arguably the beginning of the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the last vestige of the Cold War is finally coming to an end.  Let's hope the people fixated on the past do not interfere with progress and the bones of the Cold War are finally allowed to rest in peace.

"The longer you live in the past, the less future you have to enjoy."  - Unknown