Love and marriage and love

Before marriage there must be love,

And after marriage there must be even more love,

For love cannot be the vessel to a marriage alone.

It must also be what nurtures and grows 

The happiness of the life together thereafter.

Love and marriage and love in that order,

In very good times and equally in bad,

On sunny summer days and cold winter nights,

During sounds of laughter and sniffles with tears,

When the pantry is full and glass half empty.

Love and marriage and love in that order,

Even when the jobs become very demanding,

And especially when the world becomes distracting,

Magnifying the lines between yours and mine

When they should clearly and continuously be “ours.”

Love and marriage and love in that order,

Just like this year will lead to the next,

And this decade to the one after,

As your young minds and bodies age

Evolving for better and for worse.

After marriage there must be more love,

For your everlasting love will be the foundation

That makes your strong marriage the fulfillment

Of a life you were truly destined 

To share together hand in hand.

 ©Copyright 2024, Charles A. Bruns

This poem was written for the marriage of my youngest son, Kevin, and daughter-in-law Hillary, and read for the first time at their wedding ceremony. 

Florida Keys Cubans

Cubans began settling in Key West nearly 200 years ago, shortly after Spain sold the Cayo Hueso territory to the United States for 2,000 U.S. dollars in a transaction that took place in Havana. The first Key West Cubans were mostly cigar rollers and fishermen.  

“Prior to 1868, Key West’s population consisted of about 5,000 inhabitants but by 1880 had risen to over 15,000 inhabitants mostly due to the Cuban immigration,” wrote Alejandro F. Pascual in his 2013 book, Key West: Passion for Cuba’s Liberty. “Key West increasingly started to smell like tobacco, Cuban coffee, and black beans.”

 

Pascual also wrote that the Cuban community in Key West “was known for its patriotism, its generosity, its perseverance, and its intensity.” By 1876, Key West had its first Cuban mayor as well as Cuban municipal judges and federal customs officials. In 1890, the San Carlos educational, patriotic, and civic center, which “was like the holy temple of the Cubans” according to Pascual, moved to Duval Street, where it still stands today. Jose Marti spoke there late in the 19^th century to stir support for Cuba’s eventually successful fight for independence from Spain.

 

After the Revolution resulted in the loss of political freedom and economic opportunity across Cuba, thousands of Cubans left the Communist island on boats, rafts, and various makeshift watercraft and landed in the Florida Keys. During the past 60-plus years, many thousands more have drowned during the dangerous 90-100-mile journey. Since the mid-1990s, several thousand have been intercepted at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard and deported back to Cuba.

 

Those who have successfully arrived from Cuba, however, are increasingly making their presence known in commerce across the Florida Keys beyond Key West. During my visits since 2007, I’ve observed a significant increase in the number of “Cuban food” and “Cuban coffee” signs along the approximately 100-mile stretch of road between Key Largo and Key West. 

 

On my most recent trip, I heard about an Islamorada fish market operated by Cubans. I pumped gas into my rental car at a station with a “Cuban coffee” sign on its window and Spanish-speaking staff and patrons. And yes, I enjoyed the delicious traditional Cuban food and wonderful café con leche and cortadito coffees available at different restaurants and cafes during my week in the Florida Keys. I also revisited the San Carlos Institute to learn more about the history of Cubans in Key West while observing how that history is continuing to be written across the Florida Keys.