Barbara Caver, author of the upcoming memoir A Little Piece of Cuba: A Journey to Become Cubana-Americana (She Writes Press, Dec. 2025) — a heartfelt story about how one woman’s return to her family’s homeland reawakened a connection passed down through generations.
Barbara’s memoir is inspired by her relationship with her beloved grandmother, Carmelina, who fled Cuba in 1959 but carried her culture and stories into her granddaughter’s life. Barbara writes: “I am named after my Cuban grandmother Carmelina, and I am lucky that she is alive and continues to be a vibrant force in my life. When I was a child, Carmelina was my first tour guide to Cuba, the country where she was born and raised and where our family has deep roots. By introducing me to Cuban food, pastimes, and culture, she instilled in me a love for a heritage that is strong and beautiful.”
For Barbara, her grandmother’s love and lessons shaped her understanding of identity long before she ever set foot in Havana. When she finally traveled there as an adult, the sights, smells, and tastes she experienced brought her grandmother’s stories vividly to life and helped her understand what it truly means to belong to two cultures. A Little Piece of Cuba beautifully explores family legacy, cultural inheritance, and the ways older generations shape the lives and identities of those who follow. It’s a memoir that celebrates the strength of matriarchs and the timeless influence of grandmothers who keep traditions alive through food, storytelling, and love.
I had a chance to learn more in this interview.
How do grandparents help preserve family culture?
Grandparents share their culture through daily actions such as cooking a favorite recipe, sharing a hobby, or telling a story from their early lives. Parents are right to be absorbed in the present, but grandparents can bring into the present a living history and rich cultural heritage that a grandchild isn't going to experience any other way. Grandparents especially know how to slow things down and make meaningful memories.
How can travel experiences strengthen multigenerational bonds?
Nothing makes a bigger impression on the spirit than experiencing a new, different place firsthand. Whether you are meeting a distant relative for the first time or traveling to the place your ancestors came from, the experience of understanding how you are part of a continuum becomes real to you.
What is heritage travel and how can it be meaningful for families?
I think of heritage travel as physically traveling to and spending time in places where your family originated. It's helpful to travel off the beaten path; the big sights are important to take in but the real life of a place is in the small shops, the fields outside of town, and down the side streets. Building your own narratives around the experience of these places adds to the family mythology and keeps it alive and vibrant for future generations.
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