This Tuesday, September 30, Las Tunas City celebrates its patron saint and its 229th anniversary. The Cultural Day, which has sought to evoke local essences, will close tonight with artistic airs.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- Inspired by themes such as the centennial of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, beautification work is being undertaken and, as a hope for better times, some investments are being announced; perhaps among the most valuable is the refurbishment of the San Jerónimo parish.

All of this, although it cheers our souls, remains tinged with debt given the hardships of daily life. The fact is that the region and its people, intertwined in that mystical way in which only those who recognize each other to the point of delirium merge, are not currently experiencing times of splendor.

However, the city is a living museum, a heritage that beats in its streets and its inhabitants, full of stories, sweat, and dreams; a canvas on which the traces of the Aboriginal, the Spanish, the African, and the Creole mingle. It's there for us; there's always time to pamper it a little, to freely walk its corners and embrace the space that treasures the essence of who we are.

One less can lying around, one less motorcycle roaming through its Boulevard, a more thoughtful decision to revive it...; small or large gestures, all are valid when we're talking about it, if we want to give back to it for all that it has sheltered us.

Las Tunas has admirable places and good people, too, to make them count. It's time we take a deep look at what urgently needs to change from the ground up, because the greatest beauty is found in the everyday, in the "small, great things," as a park full of children, a renovated old sign, or clean streets inviting to stroll.

Las Tunas City is celebrating its birthday, and as it blows out the candles. It will surely be thinking, more than just of its own walls, about wishing us a more prosperous tomorrow. That's how much it loves us, and we should, therefore, be grateful.