By Rebecca Roybal. Journal Staff Writer. Albuquerque Journal. September 12, 2000
Haydee Herrera's last memory of her younger brother was of a young man in Cuba repairing a red car in a garage.
Jose Antonio Hernandez remembers last seeing his then 23-year-old sister over lunch in Havana.
So when Hernandez, now 59, arrived at the Albuquerque International Sunport on Monday morning — 41 years and the wear of many days later — they didn't recognize each other.
"I had a young man in my mind," Herrera said. "I couldn't figure how he'd look older."
After eyeing each for a while, "we decided at the same time we were the person the other was looking for," said Herrera, 64.
Then, Kleenex came in handy.
After the tears dried and the hugs and kisses were exchanged, Herrera and her husband, Raul, 77, immediately took Hernandez out for his first plate of huevos rancheros with red chile. And the brother and sister spent Monday beginning to catch up after so many decades apart.
During an interview in the Herreras' Northeast Heights townhouse Monday, they and Hernandez talked about Cuba and the damage Fidel Castro has done, how he has forced so many people to risk their lives and livelihoods to head 90 miles to the United States.
The Herreras fled Cuba to Miami in December 1960 after Raul Herrera, who was active in movements against Castro, was released as a political prisoner. Raul Herrera left Cuba first by airplane. A few days later, Haydee Herrera — who was seven months pregnant — followed with their
two children just before Christmas.
They left Cuba with $5 each.
"When we left, we never thought it was going to be for 40 years," Raul Herrera said.
The couple always thought they would return to their homeland. They viewed their flight as a vacation until after the Bay of Pigs invasion. When that mission failed, they realized they would have to make their home in the United States.
"We are here because Fidel (Castro) kicked us out of the country," she said. "I never ever dreamed I'd come to this country (to stay)."
In all those years, Herrera missed out on so much, including her parents' final days. Now, Hernandez is sharing all he can remember with her.
"See this ring?" Herrera said after she slid it off her brother's finger. "It was our father's ring. It's about 80 years old. Look how thin it is."
After living in Kansas while Raul Herrera worked on his master's degree, the couple moved to Las Vegas, N.M., in 1972. He was the director of Library Services and the chairman of the Library Sciences Department at Highlands University until 1992.
About 20 years ago, Hernandez asked his sister to help him get to the United States. But in the middle of the paperwork he got married, had a child and decided to stay in Cuba, she said.
Though his wife and daughter, now 22, remain in Cuba, Hernandez said he plans on staying in the United States until his visitor's visa runs out in January. Herrera said her brother also might apply for a worker's permit.
Hernandez said he hopes his family can join him here.
At one point on his journey, he wondered if he would ever get to see his sister. He missed a connecting flight in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., pushing his arrival back by a day.
"He said, 'I wondered if the plane would crash. Then I wouldn't get to see my sister,' '' his sister said.
Hernandez missed the welcoming Cuban dinner of black beans, ropa vieja, a shredded beef dish, and flan that Herrera had prepared.
But Herrera said her "little" brother's birthday is in two days. He will turn 60 here, and she plans on making it a special one.
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