Hilda was born and raised in communist Cuba. Until she was 14 years she had daily questions growing up. Why are gay men put on forced labor camps? Why do people go to jail for expressing an opinion about the government? Why do I have to go to school every day and be ridiculed because of my faith? When the opportunity came to leave Cuba by finding political asylum at the Peruvian Embassy in Havana, her family went for it. 

She didn’t know that within 48 hours, over 10,000 people were going to occupy 28,000 square feet. Unable to move, she had nothing else to do but to wait, pass out, regain consciousness, and wait again. For her, as a 14-year-old, it was the equivalent of entering the gates of hell. 

How her family survived is still a mystery to Hilda to this day. She made it to the USA and 40 years later, she still has nightmares about her time there. She has to tell the story of 10,000 that didn’t make it. 

She has been a full-time Realtor in California for 31 years, where she lives with her husband, Dennis, and her four grown children. Her gratitude to Peru and the United States motivated her involvement in volunteering, community outreach programs, and writing this memoir.