What I’m Thankful For (On San Gibin)

A reflection on the things I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving, or as my Cuban relatives would say, on San Gibin.

Nov 26, 2025

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, or as my Cuban relatives would say, it’s San Gibin, which sounds like the patron saint of spare change.

Speaking of Cubans and giving thanks: When I visited Cuba with my father in 2004, we drove several hours from Cienfuegos to Camaguey to visit my aunt Z and her family. We had lunch at her house, and after we ate, I found myself alone in the kitchen with my cousin’s wife R, helping her clear the dishes.

My cousin O, in his late twenties at the time, suffered from kidney failure, and he and R would get up at dawn multiple times a week and hitchhike to the dialysis clinic several towns away (despite what you might read elsewhere, the healthcare system in Cuba is miserable). While O underwent dialysis, R would stand outside the clinic and sell pasteles or whatever else she managed to cook the night before with whatever meager ingredients she could find. Then they would hitchhike back home, the sun setting on their backs, exhausted.

We cleared the plates in silence, but I could tell she wanted to say something to me, and then she did, turning around to face me:

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