The well-known Cuban actor Luis Alberto García Novoa recently celebrated his daughter Camila García's birthday with a heartfelt message on social media. In his Instagram post, he quoted a memorable passage from the novel "Hopscotch" by the Argentine writer Julio Cortázar.
“In the style of Hopscotch,” the actor mentioned in his post, where he shared a touching excerpt from the book's famous chapter, where La Maga speaks to her son, little Rocamadour. “I have my toes completely curled inward, I'm going to burst my shoes if I don't take them off, and I love you so much… BLUE EYES… little garlic tooth, I love you so much, sugar nose, little tree, toy horse… Your BIRTHDAY is mine. Dad,” Luis Alberto wrote to his daughter.
The poetic birthday greeting was accompanied by photos of the actor with his daughter when she was young (in one, he is tying her school scarf), and a recent one of Camila as an adult, highlighting the resemblance of their eyes.
“There is something called time, Rocamadour, it’s like a creature that keeps moving. I can't explain it to you because you are so little,” La Maga tells her baby in "Hopscotch".
And yes, “time passes,” as Pablo Milanés would say. And “the world no longer matters if one doesn’t have the strength to keep choosing something real,” as Cortázar or La Maga might put it.
Standing Against Injustice
“I can't and won't stay silent or be complicit in lamentable events like this, nor will I bow my head to the barrage of insults, adjectives, and derogatory nouns that have started to appear on social media and in government publications, referring to those who deviate even slightly from a doctrinal thought that is intended to be mandatory,” said Luis Alberto in support of the intellectual Alina Bárbara López Hernández, who was recently expelled from the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) for political reasons.