Back, but Not Home
I was born in Cuba but came to the United States with my parents when I was almost five years old. We left behind grandparents, aunts and uncles. I grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in New York. All my friends were American. Outside of my family, do not know many Cubans. I often feel uneasy visiting relatives in Miami because it is such a different world. The way of life in the Cuban communities of Miami seems very strange to me. And I am criticized for being too "Americanized". Yet, although I am now an American citizen, whenever anyone asks me my nationality, I have always and firmly replied, "Cuban..."
When I try to review my life during the past 16 years, almost feel as if I've walked into a theater right in the middle of a movie. And I'm afraid I won't fully understand or enjoy the rest of the movie unless I can see and understand the beginning. And for me, the beginning is Cuba. I don't want to go "home" again; the life and home we all left behind are long gone. My home is here and I am happy. But I need to talk to my family still in Cuba.
Like all immigrants, my family and I have had to build a new life from almost nothing. It was often difficult, but I believe the struggle made us strong. Most of my memories are good ones.
But I want to keep and renew my cultural tradition. I want to keep "a Cuban" within me alive. I want to make a visit to Cuba someday because the journey back will also mean a journey within my soul. Only then will I see the missing piece.
13. According to Paragraph 2, I do not want to  ________.