The Cuban model and presenter Lisandra Silva fulfilled one of the most emotional dreams of her life by visiting the Great Wall of China while carrying a small urn with the ashes of her father, Carlos Silva Sánchez, who passed away on July 18 of this year at the age of 77.
In a post on her Instagram account, the Cuban woman shared images of the moment and wrote an emotional message directed straight to her father: “We did it, Daddy. The Great Wall, China, visiting my 6th wonder of the world. One more for the passport. What a lovely experience to do this with you.”
Lisandra described how, sitting at one of the windows of the wall, she imagined walking beside him, taking photos, and listening to his jokes: "Even the jokes made me see your watery eyes from excitement. You really live in my imagination. It was lovely, Daddy, you were with me."
A detail that the model interpreted as a sign of her father's presence was the appearance of a butterfly during her visit. "A large butterfly, exactly the color of my outfit, hovered over my square meter for quite a while; you even matched it. You never miss," she wrote.
The trip to China was in response to a request that Carlos Silva Sánchez made to his daughter before he passed away: that she take a bit of his ashes to all the places she visited, as he had dreamed of exploring the seven wonders of the world. According to Lisandra herself, the Great Wall of China represents the sixth of those wonders she has visited.
The journey through China also had a spiritual component related to mourning. In early September, Lisandra settled in a Buddhist monastery in the Shaolin mountains to train in martial arts with monks, with the aim of "transmuting the energy" of her father. She shared that he had approved the idea before he passed away.
The trip was organized with the help of two people to whom she publicly expressed her gratitude: "Thank you for sending me with these little angels who helped me with the organization; you know me and know that I'm a bit scatterbrained, I wouldn't have been able to do it without them."
The path to this moment has not been without distress. In August, Lisandra reported the theft of a urn that she had purchased to hold her father's ashes, which was sent through a delivery app. The model clarified that the urn was empty at that time and that the ashes were not in danger.
Before the trip to China, Lisandra also visited Cuba and brought flowers to her parents' grave, in a gesture that reflected the depth of her grief and her connection to the Island.
As of the time of writing this note, the Instagram post had garnered over 38,000 "likes" and 262 comments, including numerous supportive messages from her followers. Lisandra concluded her text with a phrase that captured the essence of the moment: "You are the best, daddy. We did it."
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