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A Cuban living abroad broke down in tears upon seeing the last item her father brought from Cuba: her grandfather's guayabera, who had passed away just a month ago, and which still held his scent. The TikToker Yanela, known on the platform as @yane_cubana, posted a 34-second video on February 28 in which she showcases, one by one, the memories her father brought her from the island after his visit. The last of those items completely overwhelmed her. "Of the things my dad brought me from Cuba, the last one changed my life," she wrote in the video description.
In the audio, with a faltering voice, Yanela utters a single phrase directed at her grandfather: "Feeling you so far from and towards heaven." The words accurately summarize the pain of those who lose a loved one in Cuba without being able to be present, without being able to say goodbye, without being able to attend the funeral.
The video garnered over 142,600 views, 11,200 likes, and 209 comments in just a few days, reflecting how many Cubans in the diaspora resonate with that experience. The hashtags selected by Yanela —#abuelo, #cuba, #teextrañoabuelo— directly target a community that collectively processes grief from afar.
The scene depicted in the video is increasingly common among Cuban families separated by the massive emigration of recent years. When a family member visits the island and returns abroad, they often bring back photos, belongings, and personal items that serve as emotional bridges between two worlds. These objects take on immense symbolic value, especially when the loved one they belonged to is no longer alive.
TikTok has become the space where the Cuban diaspora collectively processes these losses. In January of this year, a mother in Cuba broke down in tears upon receiving a surprise package from her daughter abroad, with a baby onesie announcing that she would be a grandmother. In July 2025, a girl shouted "Dad!" through tears upon seeing her father after three and a half years of separation. In September 2024, a grandmother cried upon receiving a fan sent by her granddaughter from Houston. The common denominator in all these cases is the genuine emotion in response to a distance that is not chosen, but imposed.
"Only those who have emigrated know the pain of these absences," wrote a user in a similar video of a Cuban family reunion. The guayabera of Yanela's grandfather, with its scent still intact, is perhaps the most poignant image of what it means to lose someone from afar in Cuba.
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