Every night, at the same time, a father leaves the house and reaches the bus stop.
She doesn't do that because her daughter is a child. Belén is a grown-up and could come back alone.
Yet Don Félix Cárdenas is there, waiting for her.
Since he started this habit in 2019, he almost never missed a date. It doesn't matter if it rains, it's cold or the day was heavy. Around 20:30 it reaches the stop, wait for the bus to arrive and then travel with it the last stretch of road to home.
One day Belén asked him to stop. She was worried that he was the one taking a risk coming out every night.
The father's response was disarming in his simplicity:
"I'm more anxious when I'm not coming. »
Those few words explain better than any speech what it means to love someone.
No need for spectacular gestures. Sometimes love manifests itself with a silent presence, with a promise maintained every day, without expecting anything in return.
When Belén published the photograph of his father waiting at the stop, thousands of people recognized themselves in that image.
Because, in the end, there are people who show their affection simply by continuing to be there. Evening after night. Year after year.