[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 152 (Thursday, November 12, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2330-E2331]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MIGUEL AND CARMEN COSSIOS ARE SUCH A SUCCESS STORY
______
HON. JACK KINGSTON
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Thursday, November 12, 1998
Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, patriotism--love of country--is a quality
that seems to be particularly characteristic of Americans. What is even
more remarkable is that those born abroad who choose to make America
their adopted country often come to share the same patriotic spirit
that Americans display in their daily lives. Immigrants who come to our
shores seeking a better life often find that their new lives are a
struggle, but a struggle that pays off more than they could ever have
dreamed.
There are so many places around the world where hard work does not
result in real opportunity and success. But American success stories
are all around us--especially from those who came from overseas and
started from nothing but a desire to make a better life for themselves.
Miguel and Carmen Cossios are such a success story. Dr. Cossios and
his wife fled their native Cuba in 1968 after witnessing first-hand how
thoroughly socialism crushes the human spirit and corrupts the soul.
These two brave freedom-lovers fled Fidel Castro's communist tyranny
and decided to start all over again. Penniless but determined to
achieve their dreams in a country that encourages everyone to pursue
his dreams to the fullest, the Cossios built a new life for themselves
in Baker County, Florida. Their life stories are an inspiration to all
Americans, present and future. Miguel and Carmen are great Americans.
[From the Baker County, FL Press, Feb. 23, 1995]
The Sheer Determination To Start All Over--Retirement of Cossios but
Part of a Remarkable Refugee Saga
(By Jim McGauley)
Imagine yourself a young man of 42 with an intense love of
your native country, a proud heritage steeped in the
military, a medical degree and a lovely family including four
young sons who all bear the same first name out of deference
to their distinguished ancestors.
Now imagine yourself with nothing.
No job, no country, no home, no possessions, no money--none
of the things that in 1995 link us to survival. Nothing
except a proud determination to begin again and transplant
the traditions of your forefathers to another shore where the
freedom to do it all over again is to you ``like oxygen.''
It's the stuff that has made real patriots of people like
Cuban born Miguel Cossio and his wife Carmen, who retire this
week from Northeast Florida State Hospital in Macclenny after
a combined 48 years of service, he as a psychiatrist and she
a pharmacist. Patriots in love with two countries, their
native land where they hope someday freedom returns, and
their adopted land that rewarded them for grit and
determination.
The Cossios were feted last Thursday to a reception and
retirement ceremony at the hospital where Miguel has filled a
number of roles on the medical staff since he first reported
there in 1971, including clinical director. During a brief
ceremony they accepted plaques from the state and co-workers,
and Dr. Cossio told the group he would like to be remembered
as a ``Cuban Baker County redneck.''
Though Dr. Cossio has some reservations about the
conversion of NEFSH from an accredited ``medical model'' to
the present UTR system, he credits the institution as central
to the family's re-emergence in its adopted country.
``Everyone here has been so gracious to us. We think of the
hospital and Macclenny as our home town. I am very glad to
say our headquarters will continue to be in Baker County.''
The Cossios recently bought a house in Macclenny, unique in
itself because most of the medical staff lives outside Baker
County since the closing of on-campus housing several years
ago.
The road to last Thursday and this week, which marks the
Cossios' actual retirement date, began shortly after Miguel
and Carmen landed in Miami as penniless refugees in December,
1968. Cuba had been Fidel Castro's a full decade by then, and
the repressive regime was ridding itself of a meddlesome
intelligentsia, family by family.
It was Dr. Gustavo Arias, then clinical director at NEFSH,
who first summoned Miguel Cossio down here from Binghamton,
[[Page E2331]]
N.Y. to interview as a staff psychiatrist. Public and private
medicine, particularly on the East Coast, was by the early
1970's dotted with refugees from the island nation just off
Key West. It was the kind of network that brought Dr. Cossio
back together with Arias, a former supervisor at the military
hospital in Havana and at the big psychiatric hospital there.
For nearly three years, Dr. Cossio crammed for the
qualifying exam for foreign physicians (he had to learn
English first), which he passed on the first try. Carmen, his
high school sweetheart, supported the family in New York as a
pharmacist (she held a doctorate from the University of
Havana). When Arias, a former partner in private practice in
Cuba, had an opening on the staff here, he called his old
friend.
``Our struggle to leave Communist Cuba was extremely
difficult,'' says Dr. Cossio with a shake of the head. ``I
look back now at what we went through, and it could easily be
the theme of a mini-series, I tell you.''
Before signing on at NEFSH, Dr. Cossio had to re-take a
residency program in psychiatry at a New York mental
hospital. The move to Macclenny was also the family's first
experience in a rural area.
The boys, Miguel, Eduardo, Carlos and Roberto, were still a
bit weak in English but assimilated well into Baker County
schools. They mirrored the friendly demeanor of their parents
and were excellent athletes. Miguel was an all conference
pick and most valuable player on the Wildcat baseball squad,
and along with his brothers lettered in several sports.
All the boys went on to college and medical school, and now
practice in Georgia: Micky and Eddie as internists in
Madison, Carlos an endocrinologist in Athens and Robert a
pediatrician in Savannah.
They all have the first name of their father, as do the
male grandsons, because Dr. Cossio wants to preserve the
memory of his father and grandfather, who he calls ``men of
strong principles.''
``They fought for freedom and independence of our
motherland. In September, 1933, my father was a prominent
officer in the Cuban Army and died in a battle in Havana
during a rebellion.
``He lost his life fighting in defense of national
principles. For my ancestors, like for us, freedom has been
as important as oxygen. This is the basic reason we are in
the USA.''
Carmen and Miguel plan to keep their licenses current
though are unsure now how active they will remain in their
professions. Several years ago, the 69-year-old Miguel gave
into the pleas of his sons and underwent a multiple heart
bypass operation at Emory University in Atlanta, and credits
it with renewed energy that he plans to devote to politics
and his beloved Cuban clubs in Jacksonville and Miami. It was
through the Republican Party in South Florida that Dr. Cossio
became involved last year in the Jeb Bush campaign for
governor.
``Rest? I doubt it. I cannot imagine my husband sitting at
home watching TV day and night. He has always been very
active,'' observes Carmen.
Along with politics and keeping up with his pals, Dr.
Cossio plans to see more of his sons and the couple's eight
grandchildren (another is expected this spring). He may even
start on his memoirs.
One of the plaques last Thursday was presented by Dr.
Alfredo Romeu, a childhood friend with a similar refugee
background who also plans to leave NEFSH along with his
physician wife Esther in the near future. They are near the
last of a line of Cuban born doctors that have worked at
NEFSH in its three and a half decades of existence.
Like most of his contemporaries, Dr. Bossio yearns for the
day that Cuba tosses off the Castro regime and rejoins the
American community of nations.
``Before we die, we would like to see freedom and
prosperity in Cuba again. We still have close relatives and
friends there, living in horrible slavery and poverty.
``As soon as that happens, we can say, `God, thanks again
for everything, now we can rest.' For us it will then be time
to face eternity. Our mission on Earth has been
accomplished.''
Words from the mouth of someone who truly knows what it
takes to get there.
____________________