It's Thursday and the preparations are almost complete. It's Thursday and the teenagers have already begun their waltz.
Not everyone moves in perfect sync. Some lean on a cane, others skillfully maneuver their wheelchairs, and still others hold their partner's hand to maintain their balance. Yet, the waltz is perfect, it is genuine.
It seems as if the yellow balloons are immune to strong winds and threatening adversity. It seems that—as has been the tradition since 1999—against all odds, none of the 19 smiles will fade.
They are fifteen candles burning in the soul that no one has been able to extinguish. Dreams woven between notebooks and smiles that, around a circle, dance in unison.
When you turn 15, what couldn't you feel? What couldn't you wish for?
On the esplanade, the colors intertwine. Those in the back move to the front. The wheelchairs gather in the center: "No one could stop this celebration." They, with their diverse bodies and their stories of struggle, remind us that life deserves to be celebrated.
Excited are the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and the member of the Political Bureau and Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz. Everyone present is unaware of what will happen: "These 15 have been achieved through sheer effort, and we always said they would succeed."
Esther María La O Ochoa (Teté), who was the school's director for many years, says that thanks to Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, the school's founder, and Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, this celebration was never missed. Because, as she says, "we live in a Cuba under blockade, but never one that refuses to give love."
Now the glasses are raised: a toast to happiness. For 20 minutes, tenderness and hope went hand in hand. Each shared embrace was a small tribute to life. In those embraces, there were no distances, no prejudices, no rush.
The parents wept openly. The teachers, who are also like mothers to them, shared that profound joy. And the fifteen-year-olds, at the heart of it all, smiled as if for a few moments the world had room only for happiness.
They know full well that they hold in their hands more than just a bouquet: it is the living promise of what is to come. Because even amidst hardship, in Cuba, every person matters and every life insists on blossoming.
