Life story

I’m so lucky!

The concert had been great success and Gloria Estefan was asleep on the bus that was taking her to the next town on the tour. Manager was making calls on the phone and her son was talking to his private tutor at the back of the bus. Suddenly the peace was shattered when a huge truck crashed head-on into the bus. Gloria was thrown on the floor, her back broken.

When she left hospital several weeks later Gloria was in a wheelchair. Her spine was held together by two long metal rods. She can still feel them when she lies down. At the time, it was feared that the high-kicking Conga Queen of Miami might never walk again, but for Gloria giving up was never an option. She started a long and tough exercise programme, and just over a year later she had recorded a new album and was back on stage in her biggest ever tour. ‘My only thought was that I owed it, not only to my family, but also to my fans,’ she says. ‘I’ve been doing it for them, to show that it is possible to do the impossible, in my own small way.’

To those fans, Gloria’s return to health was close to a miracle, but Gloria has always been a fighter. She was born in 1957 in Havana, Cuba, where her father worked as a policeman at the president’s palace. After Castro’s revolution two years later, the family had to leave Cuba quickly and they settled in Miami. Life in the United States wasn’t easy for the young Gloria, because her father became very ill and she had to look after him while her mother went out to work to support the family.

Gloria wanted to be a psychologist, but while studying at Miami University, she met Emilio Estefan and joined his band, the Miami Sound Machine, as a singer. Three years later when Gloria was still only 21, they got married. A brilliant businessman who had also emigrated from Cuba after his family had lost everything, Emilio turned the shy, overweight Gloria into an international superstar. Her record, Cuts Both Ways, sold an amazing 10 million copies worldwide. She has been making successful records ever since, both in English and Spanish.

Although she is now one of the richest and most successful artists in America, Gloria Estefan is not a typical rock star. She’s never had anything to do with drugs or alcohol, and her marriage to Emilio, who was her first and only love, is blissfully happy. Her biggest worry is her son, Nayib. She doesn’t want him to become spoilt by having too much money. A few years ago, when Nayib was behaving very badly, she took away all his toys. He lived like that for a year. ‘I told him he was going to have to realise what it was like to have nothing.’

Gloria has a lot to smile about – $6 million mansion on Star Island, Miami, her own yacht, and enough money to buy anything she wants. But she has also had to struggle hard in her life. Gloria herself, however, doesn’t see it that way. ‘Everybody’s life is tough sometimes, and other people have had far worse problems than me. I’ve always felt very lucky to have what I have. I certainly felt this when I had to go to the clinic after my accident and saw all the terrible things that had happened to other people in the course of their normal lives. It showed me that we live right on the edge.’

Notes

to shatter	разбить вдребезги, расколоть, раздробить
head-on	головой, носом, передней частью
wheelchair	инвалидная коляска
spine	позвоночник, позвоночный столб
rod	прут, стержень
high-kicking	здесь: звездный, невероятно популярный
tough	жесткий, строгий
to settle	поселяться, обосновываться
to support	помогать, поддерживать (материально); содержать (семью и т.п.)
blissfully	счастливо
mansion	большой особняк, большой дом; дворец
yacht	яхта
to struggle	бороться
edge	остриё, лезвие, острый край

Comprehension

Ex.1 Are the sentences true or false. Correct the false ones.

1. Gloria was born in Miami.

2. Gloria had to go out to work to support her parents.

3. Gloria wanted to be a singer.

4. Gloria got married at the age of 21.

5. Gloria was a shy, overweight girl in her childhood.

6. Gloria broke up with her husband Emilio.

7. Gloria thinks that she is very lucky.

Ex.2 Answer the following questions.

1. When and where was Gloria born?

2. Why did Gloria have to look after her father?

3. Who turned Gloria into an international superstar?

4. Why isn't Gloria a typical rock star?

5. What did Gloria do when her son was badly-behaved?

6. Why does Gloria think that we live on the edge?

Discussion

Ex.1 Answer the following questions.

1. What's your opinion about Gloria? How can you characterise her? What kind of person is she?

2. In what way is she different from a typical music star?

3. In your opinion, how did the car accident change her life?

4. Do people usually change their attitude to life when they appear on the edge?

5. Have you ever found yourself in a situation which made you revise your life?