Mom (Rita Ryder) was a nurse in a hospital in Manhattan at the time and Dad (Rasiel
Suarez) an electrician who also worked for the same hospital. Both people came from
very different backgrounds.
Mom (Rita Ryder) was a nurse in a hospital in Manhattan at the time and Dad (Rasiel
Suarez) an electrician who also worked for the same hospital. Both people came from
very different backgrounds.
Dad was born at the height of the depression years in a rural town in Cuba. His parents were hard-working blue-collar people living a modest life. So modest, in fact, their lifestyle continually flirted with poverty for many years after his birth. Dad's parents had another kid, my uncle, a couple of years afterward.
This family lived in Cuba until the mid-50's when they decided to take a gamble on life to the north. Specifically, New York City. As is the case with so many other immigrants to this country, the U.S. with its promise of the American Dream lured many foreigners who had hopes of making it big in the States. The four of them thus had forsaken their homeland in search of a better life in N.Y. and, happily, things did go better for them in time.
However, their poor English and homesickness eventually got the better of them and all
except Dad decided to return to Cuba. Unfortunately, their leaving date loosely
coincided with the time Castro took over and this necessarily severed the family ties
between them for many years. Dad had decided to stay behind because he had apparently
assimilated the way of life in New York, had learned to speak English fluently and had
achieved moderate success at work. It was while working as an electrician in a local
hospital that he caught up with Mom that one mystical day.
Mom came from an even more convoluted background. She was the daughter of an Irish immigrant who'd been adopted in infancy. Her Dad, an aging though once-renowned scientist, was ever the epitome of the absentee father, indifferent for the most part of her child's upbringing. She had suffered through her parent's divorce at an early age and was left with a mildly abusive and jealous mother. Lacking strong physical ties to her family (let alone any normal mother-to-daughter nurturing), she grew up morose, timid and lacking in interpersonal skills. The people who had adopted her mother (Mom's foster grandparents) had been very kind to her while she was still a child but unfortunately passed away shortly after while she was still a young girl.
In adulthood, Mom moved out of the house at an early age and kept minimal contact hence with the few remaining members of her family. She went on to complete college and had intermittent periods of further study in the field of nursing and veterinary school. However, her dream of being a vet doc for horses never materialized. It was during her assignment as a nurse that she met Dad.
Together, they both quit their old jobs and decided to become entrepreneurs by opening a store of their own. Thus was created Poor No More, a boutique that sold female apparel. It was, in all aspects, the quintessential mom-and-pop shop. Mom was in charge of sewing and making the clothes while Dad sold the merchandise and took care of the financial aspects of the business.
They faced constant hardship, of course, as did countless other similar places throughout
the city. Money was always a problem as bills invariably always outpaced income.
Thieves occasionally pillaged the store. Dishonest creditors, employees and so-called
friends took their toll as well. Yet, the shop remained afloat through their tireless efforts.