Someone or Something I Admire
I! I miss his wise words and solid advice. It’s a pity he is
not here for me to thank him for everything he did for me
when we were growing up.
Elvia Cortes is from Mexico, and she is grateful to be a Brewster
Technical Center student.
The Person I Most Admire
The person I admire the most is my mother, Sofia
Cerrato. She has always been my hero because she made
me feel safe and protected all the time. Her priority was
working hard to accomplish her goal of giving my sister and
me a better life. My mother worked very hard all her life
trying to visualize how she could find a way to get out of
Cuba and raise her family in a free country, the United
States.
To leave Cuba, there were many applications to be
filled out in government offices. It took us about eight
years before we were able to come to the United States. The
Cuban government made us work on a farm for two years
before they would allow us to leave the country. Finally,
we were notified that we could leave Cuba and enter the
United States legally. We were very happy, but at the same
time it was emotionally very sad for us. We were leaving
our family and friends, which we knew we might never see
again. In fact, we never did see them again.
Getting here was a blessing. We found good people
that made us feel at home. They also helped us find a job
and an apartment. My mother and I started working in a
sewing factory and my sister also started working in another
factory. In about a year, we were doing well. We arrived
here in June and in December I met the person who would
become my husband. He was in the Army and he came
home to spend Christmas with his family. Three months
later he finished his time in the Army and came back home.
Four months later we got married. Now, after forty years of
marriage, two grown children and two grandchildren, we
live very happy together.