Saving love

For Yamila and Adrián, more and more celebration dates pile up every month that they have to postpone or just let pass. Since March 2020, she says, there have been birthdays, New Year's Eve, a dating anniversary, Valentine's Day... and more will come as COVID-19 remains wreaking havoc.

This young couple shares more than just their work at the Laboratory of Microbiology and Sanitary Chemistry of the Provincial Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology of Villa Clara, as they agree that "all the sacrifice has been worth the effort". Since day one of the pandemic in Cuba they have been engaged in the health effort, a period that they describe as “more bearable thanks to love, which we have also had to fight for". Their assignments left hardly any time to do everything, let alone talk to each other, and have kept us quite far apart in the last few months", Adrián remarks.

Almost a year has passed, and Yamila, who admits (not without a smile) that she has given him a hard time now and then, has found other, much stronger and difficult commitments: the spiritual ones.

The long working hours and the epidemiological risk were equated to the health of the relationship with her partner, family, friends... Now Adrian arrives home late almost every day, always tired, and she has to study.

"I am very demanding because sometimes I need to spend more time with him, but deep down I understand that he is doing the right thing, and that's why I enjoy so much the days we work together and I feel very proud of Adrián’s work", she says with the shyness typical of someone who airs her purest feelings.

In spite of the difficulties, both youths feel proud of the times they have been force to live through. Not only have they become stronger as a couple, they have also grown on a personal and professional level, gained experience for future epidemics that may arise and, above all, feel privileged to say, "We helped many people and contributed to save lives".

For the time being, Adrian and Yamila keep putting off celebrations as they cope with one of the biggest pandemics in history and plan what they will tell their children when the time comes to have them: "It has been a testing time, but we left it behind", she holds. "That's what love is like, so complex and fragile at times, so strong and saving at others", he stresses as a farewell to the dialogue.