A Bit More Like Her

To honor Christina's memory, I am trying to solve problems a bit more like her. Already canceled her mobile number, and taking care of vehicles, went to the bank, legal photocopies of important documents, government applications forms almost ready to be sent. There is so much to do when a tragedy like this one hits a family and the worst is that I had to face all of these things alone.

If I would do things like "me", my way, the wrong way... (the Cuban way?), then I would have said - "I am tired now, and all these will be done, perhaps, later" - I would have started in August!

There we are, December of 1994, and believe me, it was not enough time together. In those days I was living in New York and we got married in Seattle, Washington. We did it that way to allow her family to attend our ceremony.

I wanted us to get married in New York where my science career was finally taking off. To give you some context; I was working at the City University Of New York (CUNY) and had a job offer from a prestigious USA east coast research center, "the center", from Rockefeller University. I had really good friends there, work connections, met a lot of important people in science and I wanted them to be part of my wedding. When people get married they invite friends, colleagues, one's boss, even if we do not want to do that! However, when she said, "I want my mother to be there", that was it. Her happiness is what mattered to me: if she was happy, I was happy.

We had a modest ceremony, but we were very happy together and that is what was important.

After our marriage, we settled in British Columbia and those were the happiest days of my life.

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The Planner 00Iren

When I tell my daughters that their mother was amazing, I am not sure they grasp the magnitude of her stature. They tell me, “Yes dad, we know,” but I want them to understand the steel in her soul. I remember the day I saw Christina for the first time. it was in the halls of the chemistry department at Simon Fraser University. We both entered a long hallway at the same time, walking in opposite directions in our white lab coats. We had the opportunity to take a good look at each other. When we passed, our eyes crossed. She kept walking without turning, but I looked back to see her disappear into one of the laboratories. I thought, “Wow, I do not have a remote chance with that girl!” Years later, after we reunited in Vancouver, she told me she had thought the same: "He is going to make a woman very happy one day." She said she had no idea it was going to be her. In 1993, after I received an ultimatum letter from Canada Immigration, I was left with no option but to escape to th...

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