That Day at the Park

That day at the park, I remember that Neni and I had to stop playing and come sit on a bench. There we are, in shorts and wearing our "patanes". That was how Neni, when he was learning to talk, called "zapatos" and it remained a word we used jokingly in the family for many years.



There is a man in profile in this photo that may be tio Orlando. (Notice the little girl next to me. I'm so glad mamita preferred shorts! Who can play in frilly dresses and patent leather shoes?!)



So it may be that tio Orlando had come to visit from the U.S. and wanted to take photos of us. Tio Orland had worked in La Habana for Joe Ellys the Merryl Lynch CEO but, in 1956, he moved to New York to work for the multimillionaires Harold and Shirley Leviton. Working in NY would have put a camera within his reach (at the time, I don't think cameras were abundant at all) either by receiving it from the Levitons or because buying a camera in NY would have been cheaper than one imported and bought in Cuba.

(The Leviton's were very generous to tio Orlando and tia Esperanza, who also worked for them starting in 1957. One generous act, for example, was that when Shirley found out that tia was not able to conceive, she paid for tia Esperanza to be treated by very expensive specialists; the result was primo Gregory. Due to her health, tia - 81 years old - finally retired in February-March of this year. She stayed, for as long as she could, to take care of Shirley who has Alzheimer's .)

This is primo Gregory with tia Esperanza, his wife Cindy and his children Lindsey and Lukas.
(Back to that day at the park.) Watched by abuelo, I had been playing but don't remember at what. It could have been anything: 2 year old babies think it's fun to look at a blade of grass (thinking about it ... I still think it is interesting!). But I do remember that I was confused as to why I was being called to sit on the bench. Neni had been playing an exciting game of cowboys and indians with 4-5 other boys brandishing pearl-handled revolvers that made noise. He was unhappy that he had to stop while his friends continued playing nearby.

I remember that because of the distraction caused by the photographer, I was able to get a hold of the pearl-handled revolver. I didn't know what a revolver was for but I found out that it made a handy hammer so I proceeded to start banging it with gusto on the concrete. In retrospect, I'm glad someone came and took it away from me because I'm sure I would have broken Neni's pearl-handled revolver. But then, what are little sisters for?