CAMAGÜEY.-Since 1991, the marriage between Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz and Amalia Simoni Argilagos has been instituted as a reflection of true love for these times. Those nuptials were perpetuated on August 1st, 1868, but 155 years later, Ramón Alberto Cid Sosa and Kenia Fernández Justi, reissued the eternal and symbolic alliance of those patriots, paradigms of Camagüey society.
The ceremony began in the central Agramonte Park, where the lovers posed in front of the sculpture of that hero, who represents freedom, self-denial and the best traditions of his people. The bride is smiling, the groom is somewhat tense. Circumstances put nerves on the surface. Here they say “look at the camera”, over there “laugh a little more”. They relax, from head to toe, when their eyes meet, when they hold hands.
Ramón Alberto feels the space that surrounds him as his own: the monument to El Mayor, every meter of granite floor he steps on, the four palms, the flag that rises to the sky... he identifies it as a second home because there, eight years ago, he arrived dressed as a mambí and worked as one of the bayardos in charge of supporting the galas and events held in that place.
As he comments, every time he puts on the insurgent's suit and crowns his head with a guano hat, he is seized by "an ancient happiness, a greatness that is only caused by being close to Ignacio." Thus, embraced by history, Ramón Alberto and Kenia enter the birthplace of Diamante con Alma de Beso (a diamond with a kiss soul), and immortalize in images, gestures and words, the same tenderness and affection that, even in the bush, Agramonte dedicated to his idolized, as he called her so many times in his letters.
The ceremony continued to the Plaza de la Revolución Mayor General Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz, a place that witnessed the "yes" of the couple, before a notary, to seal the spiritual ties that will unite them for life. After placing a floral offering before the sculpture of the notable leader of Camagüey, protagonist of feats such as the Rescue of Sanguily, the couple was honored in the Nicolás Guillén Batista Protocol Room.
Between a wave of congratulations and good omens, Kenia expresses joy through each sentence. She reads in her eyes the enthusiasm and the certainty that the future will be bright together with her better half. "We feel very happy, and surprised at the same time, when we found out that they had chosen us among 14 couples to represent this wedding, very allegorical for the people of Camagüey, and especially for those who love each other sincerely", she says, who performs the noble work of an intensive care nurse at the Eduardo Agramonte Piña Provincial Pediatric Hospital.
To the beat of El Mayor, played by the violinist Magdiel Rodríguez Otaño, the symbolic nuptials were culminating. But, they are by no means the final death throes of this project, promoted by the Quinta Simoni Museum. Next year will once again remember the fidelity and passion of two Cubans, of two patriots, referents of a sublime love, for their spouse and for the Homeland, for the young generations of Cubans.
Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez
