1. Olga Irene Acebo’s
Family Tree
*Special Note: Audio in presentation. Adjust volume accordingly.

2. Maternal Side
Great-Grandmother Great-Grandfather Great-Grandmother Great-Grandfather
(My Grandmother’s (My Grandmother’s (My Grandfather’s (My Grandfather’s
Mother) Father) mom) father)
Name: Maria Regla Name: Jose Manuel Name: Maria Eluteria Name: Salvador Acebo
Alfonso Garcia Tolon
Birthplace: Birthplace: Birthplace: Birthplace: Las
Matanzas, Cuba Matanzas, Cuba Havana, Cuba Villas, Cuba
Picture unavailable Picture unavailable Picture unavailable Picture unavailable
Leoncia Olga Veroncia Adelaida
Garcia Jesus Acebo
(My Mother’s Mother) (My Mother’s Father)

3. My Grandparents
My Mother’s Mother (My Grandmother)
Name: Leoncia Olga Veronica Adelaida Garcia
Born: 1/13/1922
Birthplace: Matanzas, Cuba
Married: Jesus Acebo (Pictured Below)
My Mother’s Father (My Grandfather)
Name: Jesus Acebo
Born: 1/04/1925
Birthplace: Havana, Cuba
Married: Leoncia Olga Veronica Adelaida
Garcia (Pictured Above)

4. My Mother
Sandra Domitila Acebo
Born: 5/07/1957
Birthplace: Havana, Cuba
She is the only daughter of the marriage
of Jesus Acebo and Leoncia Olga Veronica-
Adelaida Garcia. She has half brothers and sisters
from her mother’s side. All live in Cuba to this day.
Sandra D. Acebo had children with Conrado Diaz.

5. Paternal Side
Great-Grandmother Great-Grandfather
(My Grandmother’s (My Grandmother’s Father)
Mother)
Name: Conrado Duran
Name: Mercedes Enriquez
Birthplace: Trinidad, Cuba
Birthplace: Trinidad, Cuba
DOB: 03/01/1902
DOB: 08/12/1906
Berta Duran (My Father’s Mother = My Grandmother)

6. Paternal Side (cont.)
Great-Grandmother Great-Grandfather
(My Grandfather’s Mother) (My Grandfather’s Father)
Name: Amelia Rodriguez No Photo Available Name: Carlos Pio Diaz
Birthplace: Moron, Cuba Birthplace: Spain
DOB: 06/25/1908 DOB: 12/01/1906
Carlos Diaz (My father’s father = My Grandfather)

7. My Grandparents
Grandmother Grandfather
(My Father’s Mother) (My Father’s Father)
Name: Berta Diaz Name: Carlos Diaz
Birthplace: Trinidad, Cuba Birthplace: Moron, Cuba
DOB: 10/20/1926 DOB: 05/01/1916
Conrado Clemente Diaz
(My Father)

8. My Father
Conrado Clemente Diaz
Born: 11/23/1952
Birthplace: Sancti Spiritus, Cuba
My father Conrado is the middle
child of five children. He left
Cuba during the Mariel Boatlift in
1980 just like my mother, although
they met in Miami, not Cuba. My
father was a political prisoner in
Cuba.

9. My Parents
My mother Sandra and my father Conrado both came during the Mariel boatlift of
1980. They did not know each in Cuba, however they met in Hialeah, Florida in 1981.
My mom and dad always wanted my sister and I to never lose sense of our culture and
were we came from, so they always made it a point for us to never lose Spanish as a
language. We lived as a family for many years until about 1997 when my mother and my
father split. From that point on my sister and I were raised alone by my mother and
Maternal grandparents, although from time to time we saw our father. He later
remarried.

10. Me
Olga Irene Acebo
Born: April 17, 1986
Birthplace: Miami, Florida
Raised in: Hialeah, Florida
First child of Conrado Diaz and Sandra Acebo

11. My Sister
Jessie Caridad Acebo
Born: August 19, 1987
Birthplace: Miami, Florida
Raised in: Hialeah, Florida
My younger sister Jessie is the
second and last child of Sandra
Acebo and Conrado Diaz.

12. My Family’s Story
 If you haven’t noticed by now my sister and I carry my mother’s maiden name instead of
my father’s surname. I used to ask my parents about the choice to name me under my
mother’s surname instead of my father’s, and each parent had their version of why it was.
My mother and father had a very tumultuous relationship and it seems like they never got
along. In retrospect I am happy that I am an Acebo, because it’s a rare Hispanic surname
and it makes me feel unique to have it.
 I feel like I relate more to my maternal side of the family because that’s all I’ve ever known.
I was raised mostly by my mother and maternal grandparents. My grandmother Leoncia
has a very long name and we knew her as Olga, or as my sister and I call her “Mima”. In
Cuba and other Latin countries it was customary to name a newborn baby by many names.
The theories are that the child was named by all it’s relatives, another is that the baby was
named after a Saint, particularly the Saint on who’s day the baby was born on and then a
name given by the parents. My grandfather Jesus is younger than my grandma “Mima” by
five years. He is my grandmother’s second husband. My sister and I always called my
grandfather “Pichon” which translates into English as, “baby bird” or chick. There is a
very funny family story as to why we called “Pichon” that name. According to family
when my mother was a baby my grandfather called her “Pichona” (baby bird) and as she
grew older she would call him “Pichon”.

13. My Family’s Story /
Culture
 My grandmother and grandfather were born in the twenties and raised in a time were
dating was unheard of and not allowed, make-up on teenage girls was viewed
negatively, and tattoos belonged to sailors and prostitutes.
 Growing up in the US I encountered many culture clashes. In school some of the girls in
my class had sleep-overs and parties. My grandparents would never allow my mother to let
my sister and I go sleep over a friend’s house. I was allowed to have friends over my
home, except, they were never allowed to sleep over.
 I wouldn’t say that I was sheltered as a child, but rather, highly guarded. Growing up
through middle school and high school I was never allowed to go to the movies alone with
my friends, nor was I allowed to go to parties that my classmates held without supervision.
My grandmother always said that in Cuba kids and teenagers would always be supervised
by a chaperone when going to the movies, the beach, or anywhere.
 As a child I sometimes felt like my grandparents were living in a bomb shelter. They
brought 1920’s Cuba into a liberal 1990’s US. I felt like I wasn’t like the other kids. They
were allowed to date, have unsupervised parties, and go to the movies with other kids.
 I was allowed to date at age 17 and that was because I begged my mother. My grandparents
of course frowned upon the idea.

14. My Family’s Story /
Culture (cont.)
 My maternal grandparents always placed family and education as a top priority in life. They taught
my sister and I that hard work along with a good education could get us farther in life. My
grandmother’s parents died of Pneumonia when she was 12, she and her siblings struggled as
orphans in Cuba. They bounced from relatives homes that didn’t want the burden of more mouths to
feed. They lived in extreme poverty for a few years but the siblings always had each other’s backs and
stuck together like a family. My grandmother wed young at about 14 or 15 years of age. She always
told me that she wed her first husband out of necessity and not of love. She said it was the sacrifice
she made to give her siblings a home. My grandmother’s story always captivated me as a child, like a
Hollywood movie it was a tear jerker. My grandmother was and is to this day the strongest woman
I’ve ever known. She along with my grandfather have taught me valuable life lessons. Unlike her, she
always told me to never depend on a man, to get a degree and be independent, to enjoy my twenties
responsibly, and to not get caught up in vices like drugs or alcohol.
 I am almost done with school and am counting down the days till graduation, it’s funny how ironic
life is, as a child I felt embarrassed by my grandparent’s customs, but now as an adult I thank them.
Many of my current goals is to please them. People say that you should live your life the way you
want; to make yourself happy. But what if your happiness comes from pleasing your family? My
grandfather recently went into the hospital about three weeks ago and things aren’t looking to good. I
hope that “Pichon” pulls through. He was my favorite grandparent, as a child he would take my
sister and I to McDonald’s Park in Hialeah, he called the park, “el parque de los patos” (the park full
of ducks). We would spend the day playing and feeding the ducks old Cuban bread. My
grandparents are survivors and have seen two countries in almost a decade. I feel lucky to have heard
first hand their opinions and views about both Countries and Cultures.

15. The Newest Member
Phoenix Ember Garcia
DOB: 09/21/2011
Birthplace: Hialeah,
Florida
Parents: Jessie Acebo
Adael Garcia
This is the newest member of our family. She is the
best thing that our family has received in the past few
years. My niece Phoenix is spunky and mischievous,
but also very sweet. My sister speaks to Phoenix in
English and in Spanish so that she never loses sight of
her Culture.