Celebrating her 100 years of life, together with her 13 children, 42 grandchildren, 72 great-grandchildren, and 55 great-great-grandchildren, was the best gift for Martha from Contramaestre, who tells us with great enthusiasm:
¨Look, you just have to see all this, eh! All my children are normal, they are fine; they make me very proud, they love me very much. My old man (husband), who has already died, once told me: “You are a rich mother, rich girl! Because all our children were taking care of me, they were loving me.”
With an exquisite humor Martha describes how she raised her numerous offspring:
“My old man, ever since we got married, I don’t even remember what day it was, what he wanted was to have many children, and every two years I gave him a child, and one day I said to him, that’s enough, boy. No more children… (Laughs)
Martha’s concept of a woman in the role of mother is for Martha the secret of having lived so long.
“I was the one who took care of my children, nobody else, and I didn’t bother anyone with my children. I, I am the mother and I have to take care of them, a whole life; maybe that’s why I have lived so long (laughs).
One of the great virtues of this woman from Contramaestre is to become a centenarian full of vitality.
“I wash, cook, make coffee; I do everything without help. I have a daughter-in-law who takes care of the house, but I also do everything…”
Someone seizes the moment and wishes her to live 100 more years.
“That can’t happen. There’s no one who can live that long. In terms of thought, yes, like José Martí.”
The most beautiful lesson of her hundred years of life is in her unique way of understanding the true richness that for her is the family.
“I have not lacked anything. I am a poor rich woman; I am poor but rich.
