A few days ago I got an unexpected call, one of those that you don\u2019t\u00a0feel like answering because you sense that what you\u2019re about to hear\u00a0will affect your state of mind.\u00a0The caller was so insistent that his number engraved itself on my memory.<\/p>\n
The person who called was a friend of mine, a bit of a nutcase, who\u2019s\u00a0hard to shake off; not because I\u2019m party to his craziness, but because\u00a0he is a good person, and I care about him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHugo, buddy, why don\u2019t you answer my call,\u201d he reproached me in an\u00a0authoritative voice. He knows why I didn\u2019t answer: it\u2019s because he\u00a0always has some urgent problem to keep his adrenaline going.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to help me with this. There\u2019s this gentleman that I know\u00a0who needs to travel to Cuba. There aren\u2019t any tickets, and the flights\u00a0are really expensive. Can you help me out?\u201d\u00a0But, hold on, who is this gentleman and what kind of problem does he
\nhave that requires you to ask for my help so desperately? \u201cJust listen\u00a0to him,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019ll tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I agreed to meet with William, the gentleman with the problem, at\u00a0about 6 p.m. in a park near a house where I usually meet up at the
\nsame time every day with a crew of neighbors who go for a run to\u00a0improve their figures and stay healthy.<\/p>\n
I had just finished my first lap when I made out a little family of\u00a0three off in the distance\u2014a lady and a little girl who was holding the
\nhand of a tall, hefty older man. \u201cThis is my granddaughter, Cancio.<\/p>\n
They found that she has brain cancer,\u201d he said, pointing at a scar on\u00a0her little head. \u201cAn incurable third-degree glioma. Surgery was ruled\u00a0out; they found a tumor that\u2019s impossible to extract and sent her home\u00a0with a prognosis of six months to live, and I need to travel to Cuba\u00a0to get the medicine that will keep her alive. There aren\u2019t any\u00a0tickets, and the flights are super-expensive. Can you help me?\u201d<\/p>\n
A knot in my throat was choking me, and I was speechless for about\u00a0half a minute. The little girl is blond and slim, sweet, and she has a
\nbit of a hard time walking. She reached for my hand to shake it and\u00a0gave a beautiful smile that shook me out of my muteness. \u201cHi,\u201d I said\u00a0to her. \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d \u201cLiz,\u201d she answered. When she saw other\u00a0kids in the park, she tried to break free of her grandfather\u2019s giant\u00a0hand to go play.<\/p>\n
William told me that in an act of desperation, he had traveled to Cuba\u00a0to find Rolando, a biologist\u2014or maybe an angel\u2014who cures cancer\u00a0patients almost without charging\u2026. \u201cAs soon as he saw my\u00a0granddaughter, he said, \u2018Your granddaughter is not going to die; I\u2019m
\ngoing to save her\u2026.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at her, Cancio, here she is. In a hospital in Miami they gave\u00a0her six months; that was in 2010. Since then, I\u2019ve traveled every
\nthree months to get her medicine. I am a humble, hard-working man, and\u00a0I\u2019ve had to sell almost everything to take care of and cure my
\ngranddaughter.\u201d Days after our encounter, William traveled to Havana\u00a0and was able to make his appointment with Rolando and buy the medicine\u00a0for his granddaughter.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, I received a present from William and Liz: a bottle of\u00a0whisky and a white T-shirt with a photo of Liz that says \u201cPrincess\u00a0Liz.\u201d On the back it says, \u201c3 years and going strong with God\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
William is traveling to Havana again in late June, this time with his\u00a0wife, daughter and granddaughter. I\u2019m letting you know in case you\u2019re\u00a0traveling around that time and you run into a tall man with giant\u00a0hands holding onto a little girl, just 6 years old, blond and slim,\u00a0with difficulty in walking and a smile like sunshine. That\u2019s my friend\u00a0William and his granddaughter Liz. Don\u2019t be embarrassed; approach them\u00a0and they\u2019ll thank you for it. Encourage them to keep going, to keep\u00a0going strong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few days ago I got an unexpected call, one of those that you don\u2019t\u00a0feel like answering because you sense that what you\u2019re about to hear\u00a0will affect your state of mind.\u00a0The caller was so insistent that his number engraved itself on my memory. The person who called was a friend of mine, a bit of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":9398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[33566,7417],"class_list":["post-9336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-propositions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n