The Power of Believing in a Dream to Achieve the Impossible: From Cuba to a Life of Freedom
Feb 08, 2025
When I was younger, my mom had a dream that one day her daughter was going to have the opportunity to experience the most basic human right, one that she hadn’t experienced before:
FREEDOM.
We were born in Havana, Cuba. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, home to famous cigars and refined rums. We left when I was 9 years old and I still have great memories. I remember…in front of our house, there was a very tall building, and at night, you could hear the sound of the dominoes colliding with each other in preparation for another round. Playing dominoes in Cuba is truly a sport.
It’s a country full of magic, lively people and music, delicious food, beautiful beaches… a magic that dissipates with a Communist government. Being born in Cuba means you don’t have the freedom to choose the life you want to create. The government owns you and if you want a better life? Well, leaving Cuba permanently to go to another country is illegal, risky, and almost impossible.
But my mom… the bravest person I know… my mom had a dream… a dream that one day we were going to taste what freedom felt like.
And dreams…
Dreams have no limitations, dreams travel beyond geographical borders and have no expiration.
There’s only one thing required when you have a dream: to BELIEVE.
I was 9 years old when my mom, in an unexpected way, got an opportunity to travel to Mexico City for a 3-year government assignment. Once you leave Cuba, you’re supposed to go back. Remember, the government owns you.
As a child, I truly LOVED Mexico! There, I had my best childhood memories, a stable home, we would travel back to Cuba to see our family, fun friends, and the most amazing food!
3 years went by so quickly! And her assignment in Mexico had finished. It was time to go back to Cuba.
I was 12 years old when my mom communicated something that completely changed the course of our lives. The week before our one-way flight back to Cuba she said: “Yanet, we’re not going to board that plane, we’re going to run away. You can’t tell your friends, your family, no one! We’re risking our lives.”
I learned at a young age the power of having a big enough why.
When your why is big enough, the how unfolds in ways you cannot predict, even when your dream seems impossible at first.
So we embarked on the risky adventure of running away from a Communist country to seek the freedom we deserved.
We hid in a secret place for 6 months until it was time to take the next step.
It was October 8th, 2002 when we were dropped at the border between Mexico and Laredo, TX.
The plan was to get to the border officers in the US to ask for political asylum.
I remember my mom wearing this bright red suit as we were walking toward the border and I thought to myself: why would she wear such a vivid color when we’re trying to be cautious here? We’re doing something illegal, our lives are at stake.
But that’s my mom, for her red symbolized hope, power, and faith.
That day, we touched American soil, and our dream, which seemed impossible at first, became our reality.
A single mother with her only daughter beating all of the odds. No resources, no guarantees of anything, without knowledge of the language, leaving our family and everything we owned behind, but driven by a powerful dream of FREEDOM.
Now, as an adult, when I feel doubt creeping in or I feel I can’t do something, I think back on the greatest gift my mom gave me: the gift of believing in a dream and achieving the impossible.
I want to leave you with two self-reflection questions, my friend:
- What are you dreaming of lately?
- And if nothing comes to mind, I want to ask you: when did you stop dreaming?
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