He overcame covid, but not his taste for tobacco. In his life he has formed an extensive family of 12 children, 24 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great-grandchildren.
The history books say that on February 28, 1922, Egypt became independent from the British Empire. That same day, in Ecuador, Delia Matilde Fuentes López was born, who turns 100 today.
Neither her white hair nor her wrinkled hands reflect that Delia Matilde has lived a century. On the contrary, she tells stories about herself, she remembers her childhood and until recently she enjoyed dancing, she says, when she is asked what she was like in her youth. Although she walks with her, her legs are still strong enough to stand in front of the birthday cake while the others sing the traditional celebration melody to her.
“I like music that is for dancing,” he says in his soft, slow voice, while his family prepares a party for him to celebrate this age that few aspire to reach.
Olga Fuentes knows this, the first of the 12 children of Delia Matilde, who attributes this birthday to the food of her mother, a native of San José de Chaltura, in Imbabura, but who arrived in Quito more than 50 years ago.
At the party, where the number 100 stands out, either in golden balloons or in the candles, everyone pays attention to the ‘granny’ as they affectionately call her. Andrés Granda, one of her 24 grandchildren, is in charge of speaking loudly and close to her ear so that the birthday girl clearly hears the questions of this interview.
In a house, located south of Quito, five generations gather to celebrate this unusual number of years. Everyone, from the oldest to the youngest, has some memory of the woman who, despite her age, remembers that it was her grandmother who taught her how to cook the tortillas that go in the llapingacho and that, the family agrees, she is one of the richest dishes; although they highlight that in Delia Matiles’s house, toasting is never, ever lacking.
“Whenever we visited him, when we were children, he would give us roasted coffee that was very good,” says the grandson, Edwin Vásquez.
He beat the coronavirus
For Paúl Vasquez, great-grandson, it is not a surprise that the grandmother lives a century. “Always, since I can remember, she has been tough, strong. In other words, she looked, as they say, macanuda. She was passing the time. She turned 91, 92 years old and was still going strong, ”he recounts with confidence.
Proof of this is that despite her advanced age, the woman overcame COVID-19. “For at least three days she hit him super hard. Hence, the care that she had for him was that he stay in the house and go out as little as possible. But she recovered, ”says Andrés. That, against all odds, because in addition, the ‘grandmother’ has smoked cigarettes throughout her life. “Now we are trying to control that,” says Olga, and Delia Matilde immediately, mischievously, replies that she no longer smokes much: “a pack or a half, I don’t know,” she says.
The virus is incomprehensible, says the family, because Delia Matilde was infected with her sister Mercedes who died of the disease despite being a minor: she was 55 years old.
Although the loss of his younger sister meant a strong blow. The family, says Olga, has become more united and each son takes turns one weekend to accompany the one who has formed a matriarchy with her example of perseverance, work and family dedication. (AVV)
