Strength and Willpower in These Hard Times

By Regina Cano

Photo: Juan Suarez

HAVANA TIMES – We are slowly finding out about the loss of people we know, the acquaintances of people we know, about how a friend’s relatives have passed and how friends of friends further away have also died.

Today, just like one of Silvio Rodriguez’s songs at the height of his career says, grief and pain fogs the lives of many, who are dealing with the social dissonance that the COVID-19 outbreak has imposed.

You hear crazy and unthinkable stories about what a political order can or can’t do in a country, as well as the amazing things other countries have managed to do, with different societies, traditions and different possibilities of taking action and, as a result, surviving. Countries where citizens still hold on to their freedom.

We know who is trying to put their foot down for social progress and to hold onto the value of human life above different socio-political systems. We learn how they are fighting for this in some places. How people are taking a firm stand against every government decision that minimizes us.

A friend told me on the phone that he was sad to think about how a Coronavirus patient is perceived. Being all alone in an isolation center or hospital, watching how your symptoms only get worse and your life is on the line, yet you are so far from the regular affection of your loved ones. Unable to share your last wishes, your last will, your last smiles, your last looks…

In many cases, the pandemic has suddenly robbed us of the durability of our lives, and also of the loving attention of our families. This is extremely painful as the social beings we are, especially for Cubans and Latinos in general, who are used to having their family’s love. 

Many people are dying surrounded by medical personnel, who do everything they can, but with the appearance of intergalactical beings, in a sterile, impersonal environment. In some cases, the brain protects us by letting us sink into an unconscious state.

First of all, I would like to wish everyone a long life, no matter what kind of life they have, but I really do wish that we can all have a happy last thought for our world’s future.

Be strong and fight until the end.

Let’s give each other hugs, even if they are hugs of soap.

Regina Cano

Regina Cano: I have lived my entire life in Havana, Cuba – the island from which I’ve still never left, and which I love. I was born on September 9, and my parents chose my name out of superstition, but my mother raised me outside the religion professed by her family. I studied accounting and finance at the University of Havana, a profession that I’m not engaged in for the time being, and that I substituted for doing crafts, some ceramics, and studying a little English and about painting. Ah! – concerning my picture: I identify with Rastafarian principles, but I am not one of them. I wear this cap from time to time, but I assure you I just didn't have a better picture.