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Dr. Lázaro Elieser Leyva García, a specialist in Internal Medicine trained in Spain, recently experienced one of the greatest fears of all Cubans who choose to emigrate: receiving the news of a loved one's passing while being far away to say a final goodbye.
Leyva shared a message that is deeply personal following the passing of his father in Cuba, a piece of news that he wrote, “all of us who live far away know that one day it will come.”
"My father has passed away in Cuba. He was ill; we knew he wasn't well, but still, the news hits hard. One is never prepared to hear that he is no longer here, even if they saw it coming from afar," he expressed.
In his words, pain intertwines with the weight of distance: “It weighs on me not to have been close in recent times, not to have been able to accompany more, not to have been able to say goodbye in person. There's that bitter feeling that we always lacked a little more time,” he confessed.
The doctor also reflected on what it means to age and fall ill on the island, one of the greatest concerns of the diaspora: “I think a lot about everything he endured for years, about how hard it is to age and get sick there, amid the reality experienced in Cuba,” he noted, though he added that it comforts him to know that his father “has already found rest” and that he no longer fights against fatigue and daily worries.
"Losing a father hurts. It hurts even when you know he was sick. The distance hurts, and it hurts for what couldn’t be done," she wrote.
However, he emphasized that the legacy remains: “the way of facing life, of working, of resisting. That’s what I hold onto. That’s what I continue with.”
The message concludes with an affectionate farewell: “I’m sending you a hug, my friend, one of those that doesn’t let go, even from afar. I wish you could hear me say once more that I love you.”
His testimony reflects an experience shared by many Cubans in exile: facing the loss of a loved one from afar, with the added pain of not being able to be present in their final moments or say goodbye in person.
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