Whatever Happen to Him

As a boy born in Cuba in 1965 to a couple married. His father whom Theresa loved much was a doctor and his mother who was his everything a woman of noble background. Born in a time of lack, poverty, minimal resources, but grown to have values, achievement, high expectations, pride and fear of nothing.

Growing up was a tough thing for Mat, being the only boy flanked by two sisters one older, the other younger. He was placed to be the responsible one to take good care of them in any situation. If when his father went away, he was left in charge as a young boy to take for my family even his mother. He took these responsibilities very seriously; he loved them very much. When his father came back he would let him know how well he took care of them, he would be very proud of him and so it went like that as far as he can remember.

Being under Castro dictatorship going to church was a bad thing Mat was to be a pioneer or a person who was totally devoted to the country and the philosophy of its leader. A church-going boy was weak and not committed to his country so he would always give a hard time to his mother for going to church. She never fainted and always kept up at church and giving me and my sisters the example. Since his father was a doctor in Cuba and had declared to leave the country, he was to be put in hard duty away from his family for weeks and months at a time.

He was born in Cuba in nineteen seventy-one; his father was a doctor that was away from home most of the time. His mother took care of him and his sisters, and he was a man in the house most of the time because his father was away in the countryside to work for Fidel. His younger sister was sick a lot of times and had to stay in bed while the other children were playing. He would always feel bad about his younger sister and would try to make things more comfortable for her. One time they all playing outside, and she was not able to get off her sickbed so Mathew rolls her bed close to the back door so she could be part of the game.

They wanted to leave the country so as a result, they would place his father to work away from them as punishment. His mother would take them to church on Sunday and, the day of the choir practice. As he was growing up and had friends in the neighborhood that were not Christian because most people that went to church were considered non-communist or were scared that if they admitted to Christianity they would be in trouble.

At the age of six years old he began to work outside of his home, cleaning shoes for people for a quarter, he felt good to have his own money. But could not buy anything with it because, in Cuba, most of what a child wanted is not available. One day his mother and sisters were at a carnival, he was so hungry and the line was so big his mother got in line with him to get him a piece of montecado. By the time they got to the front of the line, the man behind the quisco was somehow nasty to his mother and him. When he got the piece of the montecado sheet, he took it from his mouth and threw it back at the guy and said to him I did not need to beg you for anything and his mother told him it's OK will find something else to eat.

It was hot, and he was very hungry but something told him inside to trust his mother. He learned a powerful value lesson from her that day. Another time was time for the three kings, and he liked a tricycle with a horse in front. He prayed that he would get that toy every time he passed by he would look at it and said to his mommy that's what he wanted. 

When the committee got together to raffle the numbers, for the first time in their life they got low numbers. He believes it was a three or five that day or night his mother camp in front of the store and slept in a box to make sure no one got in front of her so she can get him that toy. Well, she did, and he was the happiest kid in Cuba. He learned so much from his mother, what a strong woman. 

Another time was at the dentist, and his father came and took him out and go home. He would not tell him what it was and made him promise once he found out he could not tell anyone what it is, or they could land in problems with the committee. When they got home, he opened a letter and told them that they have a visa to leave Cuba. They were scheduled to leave next week; everyone was very happy and sad because that would mean they had to leave their friends. His mother was very happy because, after ten or fifteen years, she got her to wish and one more year of waiting Mat would be taking from her to work as a soldier in agriculture for the country.

They went to Spain in 1976 for six months and the Christmas week of that year they came to the USA in Queens, NY at his aunt's house. Shortly after they moved to New York, NY.

This was when his life went crazy on him, and his mom tried to instill the same values of Cuba but he saw life differently. He wanted to grow and be somebody in the USA the land of opportunity. His father being a Doctor to now cutting pockets for jeans and was studying to pass an English test ECFMG, that never happened then he realized that it was up to him to make something great of his family and himself. He was depressed to see where they were leaving in a small apartment, no money or very limited. He decided to make things happen for him first then for his family. He got odd jobs and created his own income washing cars, windows of places of business and carried things for people for the quarter, etc.

Not so long ago a boy name Mathew came from Cuba with his two sisters, a younger brother and mother, and father. He made the decision to do something big and became obsessed with the vision. You see the boy experiences hardship in Cuba, he saw his mother stand in lines for hours just to get a toy that he wanted. He saw his mother cried nights after nights because his father had to go away in the countryside to practice medicine. He did anything that he could do to have money because that was a source of control and power to him. With all these experiences, he was powerless, and someone else was in control, he got to be protective of his parents and sisters. The boy practiced karate to help him with discipline and control but sometimes he had a demon or demons that would surface. He would become like a tank; he would be upset at everything good that was around him if he thought that you jeopardized the business that gives him control. At first, his mouth was so dirty, he would say anything that came out.

He also knows how to masque his anger and temper when there was someone that he respects or had money was around; he would get influenced by them very easily. When he came to the USA, he lived in Closter but spent most of his time in Sury. He picked up a lot of bad stuff there, but there was one thing that was great was fencing. He loved and cherished his teacher, but the teacher died of a drug overdose.

He would lend money to anybody in need even though his wife and children were in need. He wouldn't tell her at first, but he would reveal the truth later. She knew he was that way it started with a friend of his that kept calling at his in the hospital every day until he took a second mortgage on the house without telling her and invested the money in a partnership with James.

The boy went to school to learned something decent that would help him to make a great living the right way. His father made him do it and he excelled in it, but karate was his passion. As they say, do the thing that you are most passionate about, when you have a passion for something you will do it for money or for free. After all of this God took hold of this boy and showed him that if he kept on going this way, he was going to hell and on earth he was going to lose everything he has included his children that were going to despise him. This man had to repent and turned away from his ways and bad behavior and became a man that he was made to be.

He was called by his mother as a man with a will of steel. He didn't pay attention most of the time to the people he didn't respect. You had to speak and write clearly to him, or he wouldn't understand. It was dangerous for anyone that he thought was going against him or delaying the process of the organization. He always had his own agenda because the people that hurt him in the past will see that he made something of himself. They were wrong, and he proved them wrong, he took the negative that we're speaking in his life and turned them around. He wasn't afraid of getting rid of anything or anybody to get new things or new people or cared about anybody except making money, he would teared anybody off in front of the world. If you tell him something in confidence, he will use it in front of anyone to humiliate you. He was proud of this statement, and she meant for good. She meant to say that he never gave up and that whatever he wants in life, he would go after and get it. For many years, Mat operated based on this belief. He was going to get whatever he wants, and nothing and no one was going to stop him not even God. He rationalized if God loved him and wanted the best for him; then it was OK with him. He had his own rules, and he lived by his own mindset, he believed that if someone lied about Theresa, for example, Fabio told his wife that is Theresa's sister that she texted him and cursed at him. Theresa didn't confront Fabio about the lied or asked her sister " do you believe that I would do that?"That Mat gets whatever it is. So on it went for years.

He can remember getting so many things that he went after out of his own will of steel, and he was grateful and thankful to God and his abilities, etc. just that he didn't realize (until now) that God was what we are all looking for. His spirit was in need to be connected, alignment with God, so all the getting and all the going after was still leaving him thirsty, hungry but more so tired. Have you been feeling this way? God wants you to have him first then you will experience flow. What once hit him was one day he was watching T.V and Creflo Dollar came on and in the end, they put him saying the benediction that in all his getting, get understanding this drove him crazy what about this, and that. He didn't understand can you guess why? He was not going after understanding.