A Cuban mother living abroad touched the hearts of thousands on social media by posting a video in which she is seen preparing her daughter's backpack and school supplies to send them to Cuba, where the girl is about to start her first year of school.
Rachel, known on TikTok as @rachelita131, shared on Tuesday a moment filled with pain and love with a confession that summarizes the reality of thousands of Cuban families separated by exodus: "I haven't seen her since she was two years old, and now she's going to school; it's sad to be far away and organize her things and not be there on her first day."
The video, which is under a minute long, shows a mother organizing school supplies while a heartbreaking song plays: "I will fight for you to be happy, my little one / And I will give my life so you can live, my little one / Wherever you go, I will always be your light, my little one."
The mix of emotion and sadness that Rachel feels is summed up in a single phrase: "I don't know if I'm excited or sad. Your first year of school and mom is far away."
The first day of school is one of those unforgettable milestones in the life of any child, and also for any mother. For Rachel, that moment will come without her being present, unable to hold her daughter's hand or accompany her to the classroom door.
Her story is not an isolated case. The Cuban exodus in recent years has left thousands of families fragmented, with children being raised by grandparents or other relatives while their parents try to build a life abroad. In September 2025, another Cuban mother in the United States experienced her daughter's first day of school in Cuba via a video call, and she summed up the situation in three words: "Many of us had to."
Migration restrictions further exacerbate separation. Many Cuban women with humanitarian parole, pending asylum applications, or I-220A forms cannot return to the island without risking their legal status in the United States, making each visit virtually impossible.
This is compounded by the costs of airfare, which can exceed 1,000 dollars, an economic barrier that further closes the door to reunion.
The numbers behind these stories are striking. Between 2021 and mid-2024, over 860,000 Cubans arrived in the United States, with the largest influx concentrated between 2022 and 2023. Most of them are young people aged between 20 and 40, in their prime reproductive years, which has triggered a silent wave of separations between parents and children measured in years of absence and moments that won't return.
Documented cases show reunions after three, five, six, and even seven years of separation, with children crying or failing to recognize their own parents. A Cuban mother experienced this moment after five years without seeing her daughter, and the reunion ended with both on the ground, embracing.
The video of Rachel accumulated over 6,700 views, 383 likes, and 54 comments in less than 24 hours, a response that reflects how many Cuban families see themselves in that image: a packed backpack, a mother far away, and a little girl starting school without knowing that her mom prepared everything from across the sea.
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