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Leyanis Barroso Carbonell posted an emotional message on Facebook to mark one year since leaving Cuba, in which she candidly recounts the pain of family separation and the emotional toll of leaving the island in search of a better future.
«A year ago, I got on a plane with my heart in pieces and my bags full of fear,» wrote Leyanis, who accompanied the text with a collage of four photos taken inside the plane in June 2025, when she left Cuba.
The message precisely describes the small daily rituals that weigh most heavily on him from a distance: "I miss the smell of brewed coffee at 6 a.m. I miss the fights over the TV remote. I miss my mother's scolding, my grandmother's advice, the silly laughter of my siblings in the living room. I even miss the power outages, because even in the darkness, you were there."
Leyanis acknowledges that no one warned her about the real price of emigrating: "No one told me that the price was this emptiness in my chest. That every old photo would hurt. That I would learn to smile in pictures while inside I scream 'I miss you'."
The testimony also reveals the double emotional life that many Cuban emigrants lead: "I cried in silence so as not to worry them. I celebrated alone so it wouldn't hurt them. I learned to be my own family."
And he adds candidly: "Forgive me if my voice sounds 'fine' on the phone while I'm falling apart inside. It's just that I don't want you to suffer more because of me. You already suffer enough without having me around."
The account of Leyanis reflects an experience shared by hundreds of thousands of Cubans. Since 2021, more than a million people have left the island, decreasing the effective population from 11.3 million to between 8.6 and 8.8 million inhabitants.
Recent emigration has a predominantly young and female profile: more than half are women — 56.6% of the total — many of whom emigrate alone, leaving children and the elderly in the care of other family members.
This pattern creates prolonged separations, as reunification depends on immigration, economic, and political conditions that can take years to resolve, exacerbating what specialists refer to as migratory grief.
Other Cuban women have shared similar experiences on social media. One of them, living in Ferrol, Spain, expressed feeling "empty" due to missing her family, in a testimony that resonated with thousands of compatriots abroad.
Leyanis closes her message with a promise and a hope: "So that the next June 15th is a reunion, not a farewell."
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