Richard Hyatt: An unfulfilled dream of home

Elena Amos died with a treasure chest of memories and a dream that never came true.

All she wanted to do was go home.

Elena Diaz-Verson was born in Cuba before Fidel Castro and before Communism. She came to Miami for college and met a fascinating young lawyer named John Amos. They moved here in 1955, where her husband helped start the insurance company now known as Aflac.

They enjoyed the good life, dining with political royalty and legends of business. They lived in a penthouse atop a parking garage behind Aflac's headquarters on Wynnton Road.

But as long as Castro ruled her homeland, she would not go back. She had an apartment in Havana but vowed she wouldn't spend a night there until Castro was deposed.

In 1995, I thought Elena was going back and that I was going with her. She helped fund a flotilla of ships that was going to circle the island and I flew to Florida on a private jet with her and Alina Fernandez Revuelta, Fidel's illegitimate daughter.

People told me this was a ruse, that they were going to sail into Havana. I was equipped with a satellite telephone, a camera and a letter of introduction from Knight-Ridder newspapers confirming that I was on assignment.

The morning we were to leave Key West, security officers separated me from Elena. I watched them sail away. It was just as well, for bad weather attacked the ships and two people were lost at sea.

I was waiting when they returned. Before her driver took us back to Miami, we enjoyed a private meal at a Cuban restaurant and I developed a love for Cuban coffee.

That tiny woman was a dynamo. She helped others but she couldn't help herself. A visit to the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay in 1998 was as close as she ever got to home. She brought back a jar of sand that she treasured.

I thought of her this week when Delta Air Lines announced that it was applying for the right to schedule flights from Atlanta to Havana. I wished she could throw a party on board a Delta jet.

Elena Amos died 16 years ago and her unusual penthouse sits vacant, used for storage rather than entertaining. And Fidel and his trademark beard are still around.

Richard Hyatt is an independent correspondent. Reach him at hyatt31906@knology.net

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 8:44 PM with the headline "Richard Hyatt: An unfulfilled dream of home ."