Being of Spaniard and Cuban descent my parents, Evelio (RIP) and Virginia Perez, fled the Castro communist regime and exiled to Spain in one of many stops with hopes of reaching the United States where my aunt and grandfather had already reached. While in Madrid, my mother became pregnant with me. A few months later they had to leave for Costa Rica where they could achieve a visa to get into the US much easier. I was born in Alajuela, Costa Rica, a busy working class city near the capital San Jose. Six months later my parents were granted the visa for the US and moved to Chicago where the rest of my mom's family was at the time. After a year, my parents figured the cold climate didn't suit me well, so they moved to Miami where the was an abundant Cuban exile community and the language barrier was not as strong. So as you can see, my inherent quest for adventure and discovery started in my DNA creation.
So here I was 22 years old, working a full-time job at a bank in the financial district of Brickell Ave., going to school in the evenings and airbrushing motorcycles in a tin shed in the back of my house til l2 am. every night. I knew this was not good for my family, but I was trying to provide and grow my salary. We moved to a better opportunity in Boca Raton, FL, an affluent city in Palm Beach County Florida. I had ceased the airbrush business to concentrate solely on climbing the corporate ladder, what a mistake! Shortly there after my daughter, Katherine was born and having started to gain momentum in my career I was feeling a sense of accomplishment until I went through a very hard divorce. Needless to say, I went into a deep depression and did the typical thing divorced guys do, hit the gym, get in incredible shape and start living the bachelor life I didn't have at an early age.
Sometimes we believe we have the ideal path planned out in life, but there is a divine plan, call it destiny, God's plan or what you might, we are not always in control. The one thing I've learned to do is enjoy the now, appreciate the people in my life and be grateful for my blessings. Everything comes with time.