A video posted on TikTok has moved thousands of Cubans both on the Island and abroad. In the footage, an elderly woman is seen sitting in a car, silently gazing out the window, while her granddaughter writes a phrase that says it all: “You have to live it to understand it.”
The author of the video, user @maydi0413, shared that her grandmother decided to return to Cuba after spending some time living in the United States. She missed her home, her neighborhood, and her people. “We accepted her return, and we almost lost her. One more month in Cuba, and we wouldn't have her,” she wrote in the video description, which quickly went viral.
In another clip recorded during the trip, the elderly woman candidly summarized the reality she encountered upon her return. “In Cuba, there is only hunger, need, and people coming into your home to ask for clothes or food. I no longer have the strength to deal with that,” the woman said.
The family decided to respect her wishes, even though they knew it was not an easy decision. “To please her, we allowed her to come back, but she returned in very poor condition. It was a painful experience and an enormous feeling of guilt,” she shared in the comments, where she received thousands of messages of support and empathy.
Among users, many shared similar stories: parents and grandparents dreaming of returning, but facing a country they no longer recognize. "Emigration hurts so much," wrote one woman. "That grandmother came back with her heart split in two," commented another.
Mayo explained that he decided to share the video to prevent other families from going through the same experience. “I didn't do it out of resentment, but out of love,” he clarified. “Sometimes the heart wants to return, but reality reminds you why you left.” His story encapsulates the feelings of an entire generation of Cubans: returning can be a dream… or a wound that hurts again.
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