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Guillermo聽Vidal was awakened by a text from his son at 1 a.m., telling him Fidel Castro — the revolutionary whose regime up-ended his life — had died.

The former Denver mayor went numb, his mind returning to the years of trauma he experienced after leaving Cuba as a 10-year-old child with his two brothers in 1961 as part of Operation Peter Pan and winding up at an orphanage in Pueblo, where they struggled with a new language and culture shock.

“I first have to feel the wave of those sadnesses all over again,” said Vidal, who goes by Bill. “It抖阴ap just so amazing how they live so close to the surface of my conscious mind.”

Vidal, who wrote about his experience in “Boxing for Cuba: An Immigrant’s Story of Despair, Endurance, and Redemption,” said he has trouble hating anyone these days, preferring not to lower himself that way. Instead, he said he was content knowing history will see Castro as a caricature of a despot who bankrupted his country and failed to accomplish anything of historic value.

He said he celebrated more when Castro resigned 10 years ago, even if it only turned power over to his younger brother Raul Castro.

Vidal said Fidel Castro’s death was more symbolic than a sign of actual change. He said the rumor when he visited Cuba in July was that Fidel Castro had already died.

“I鈥檓 glad he鈥檚 passed on, but it doesn’t change anything for me, it doesn’t change anything for Cuba right now,” Vidal said.

Maria Garcia Berry had returned from a family dinner in St. Louis celebrating her first grandaughter’s christening when her friend, a fellow Cuban living in Denver, emailed about Fidel Castro’s death.

Shocked, she woke her husband and the two stayed up until all hours of the night watching the news. At midnight, they debated waking Garcia Berry’s 86-year-old mother, who had a falling out with her brother over Fidel Castro’s rule.

“Fidel Castro was such a polarizing figure to all of us,” Garcia Berry said, who is CEO of CRL Associates in Denver. “You either hated him or loved him and there was no in between.”

She said Fidel Castro took a toll on many people’s families, including her own. Her father died prematurely at 46 years old following the stress of leaving the country.

“I feel sad,” Garcia Berry said. “Not because (Fidel Castro has) passed but because of all the people聽I wish聽I聽could be with right now that are no longer with me or part of my life.”

Garcia Berry and her husband eventually decided to wake聽her mother, telling her there was something she needed to see on TV. She didn’t take a photo of her mother’s reaction, not sure if that would be appropriate, but Garcia Berry said she’ll never forget the look on her face.

“I thought I would see the day,” Garcia Berry said. “I never thought my mother would see the day he was deceased.”

Garcia Berry’s friend Ledy Garcia-Eckstein聽said the same thing about her 93-year-old mother. Garcia-Eckstein left Cuba with her younger brother when she was 11 years old. Their father joined them a month later but their mother couldn’t get out until five months later.

Garcia-Eckstein said her mother worked for the ministry of education in their province and initially supported Fidel Castro because of his literacy campaigns. But as she took part in the campaign in rural areas, she realized that all the books were using pro-revolutionary teachings.

This began to wear down on her opinion of the revolutionary, but the government did not let her resign from her position. She joined her husband’s family in Havana and used a fake passport that said she was a housewife to leave the country.

Garcia-Eckstein said she hoped the normalization of relations with the country will continue, expressing concern about what plans President-elect Donald Trump may have. She also believes Castro’s death was mostly symbolic. She said many on the island realize Fidel Castro’s regime was a failure.

“This is a man who wreaked havoc on my family,” Garcia-Eckstein said. “He had a profound impact on my family … even the choices I’ve made throughout the years.”