I have a huge stack of books to read on my nightstand, but a recent conversation with one of my nieces prompted me to reread Christina Diaz Gonzalez’s touching story of love and sacrifice, The Red Umbrella. Set in the early 1960’s after the Cuban communist revolution, it follows the journey of teenaged Lucia and her little brother as they flee the oppression and dangers of a cruel regime through Operation Pedro Pan.
Terrified by the imminent danger to their physical well-being, and distraught by the brain-washing and emotional abuse inflicted on the nation’s youth, thousands of Cuban parents sent their children to the United States to protect them from the unknown horrors of totalitarianism. In conjunction with the Catholic Church and hundreds of individuals and families who came together to foster these children, Operation Pedro Pan processed and welcomed over 14,000 unaccompanied children to the U.S. from 1960-1962.
Next year marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of this exodus. It’s stunning to recognize how many decades have passed, and how fresh this pain still is. I imagine some of these children, now in their 70’s and older, have children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren. This is their story — all of them, as many of us carry the stories of our families in our hearts, never to be forgotten.
Gonzalez shares a fictional story that weaves important historical elements into the plot, gives a new generation insight into a tragic situation in Cuba, and provides families an opportunity to expound on the truths shared in the narrative. I first read this book almost a decade ago, and it still holds strong today.