Portrait of Juanita Rosas: the 102-year-old Costa Rican who has overcome the dangers of the last century | The nation
Juanita Rosas Fernández was born in July 1918 when the world was still reeling from World War I. At that time, she arrived on a ship August Claudel, who years later became her father-in-law. He was fleeing his country, France. In Costa Rica he found his home. They are memories that the new generations imagine in black and white.
Juanita was beginning to walk through the lands of Turrialba when the Spanish flu (1918-1920), one of the biggest pandemics of the 20th century, began to hit the world. In Costa Rica alone, some 2,300 human losses were registered, but it is estimated that, according to her, she spoke with her son, Eddy Claudel Rosas, that there were many more deceased.
Neither Juanita nor her family were affected by the lethal influenza that would have killed some 50 million people in the world and from which another 500 million human beings would have been infected. He believes that living in a rural area was a protective factor.
Today, Juanita is 102 years old and lives in Cartago. Her son Eddy, 59, believes that the essence of her mother's longevity has to do with the inner strength with which she has always lived. Her strength has accompanied her since her memories begin, even when the world has experienced some of its most painful moments.
He was 21 years old when World War II broke out in the world. This woman with a soft voice and frequent smile witnessed the pain and lack of those long years through which the warfare spread, even though she has always highlighted the good and positive things in life, in the stories she has told to her children and grandchildren, she was always very clear that what she experienced was very painful.
Among what he remembers, he says that they stopped bringing in belongings from England. She tells that she and the women of that time had to use the blanket from the flour sacks to dress. After leaving that pristine fabric, she made her own underwear.
“It was a time of great lack and pain”, he recalled throughout his almanacs.
The moments that were lived during the Revolution of 1948 also come to his mind.
“In the midst of the revolution, for example, there were supporters of Don José Figueres who, when they went to rural towns, wanted to impose their law. Some peasants were hiding.
"A friend of hers would come by to fight the non-Figueristas singing Don Pepe's corrido. That lady from that balcony would spend every afternoon singing the corrido. She said it was to chimer them," Doña Juanita told her son Eddy.” Juanita was not afraid.
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Last July 5, Mrs. Juanita turned 102 years old. Her birthdays are always quite an event, this 2020 was no exception for her, however, current circumstances forced her family to celebrate her matriarch in the most modest way. A cake and the company of some of his children were part of the agape.
For the fourth time in her life, this lady faces an event that could be fatal. The coronavirus that has wreaked so much havoc in the world and that has been in Costa Rica for six months made this lady's children protect her with all the security measures to prevent the spread of the virus that is so dangerous for older adults.
At the beginning, when her relatives, in a small number, came to her house wearing a face shield or mask, she thought that she was the one who was sick. Her grandson Ariel, one of her closest relatives, explained to her that there is a deadly virus and that to avoid getting it, people use protection. Then he saw the news and learned about the coronavirus.
“I see everyone covering their mouths and faces because of this flu. There was always rubella, measles and mumps when I was young and when I was raising my children, ”says Juanita, recalling other outbreaks that worried her at the time. She emphasizes taking great care of herself, especially these days. Associate “this flu” with something very bad. One Tuesday in August we chatted by video call and, due to the difficulty of the signal, his son Eddy helped to ask him some questions to find out how he is today.
Juanita says she feels good. The company of her children (she lives with two: Eddy and Dinorath, she is 80 years old, and her youngest daughter Damaris comes to help her bathe), the calls with her relatives and the memory of her parents Rafaela and Jesús, influential figures in her life, fill it with joy every day.
“Now I rarely go out (usually I enjoyed visiting the Basilica of Los Angeles). But I don't need to go out. At home I feel good. I rest, I eat, I see dolls and animals on television. I also hear the rancheras in the afternoon”, adds Juanita, who prays every day for the health of her children, her grandchildren and that God “forgives us for the faults we have committed”.
“We must all pray to achieve God's forgiveness,” he muses.
She doesn't miss the outside much either because her son Eddy took it upon himself, for 30 years, to take her for a walk every Sunday. They stopped going because she started to wear out.
Juanita is confined to her home because her relatives are aware of the danger of the coronavirus. When she misses her great-grandchildren Sofía and Alejandro the most, her family communicates by video call or even greets her through the window. Your safety is essential.
Juanita is a healthy woman. And she walks with the help of a walker. Her children support her daily not because she doesn't have the faculties, but to protect her from a fall.
She's armored. The children who visit her do so without first visiting any other place. Purchases are left in the corridor of the house. Each grocery is washed before entering the home where Juanita lives.
Doña Juanita has always been optimistic and determined. In 1941, in the middle of the World War, Juanita fell in love and married Rodrigo Claudel, a man dedicated to the land. She was almost 23 years old, at that age, at that time they told her “that the train had left her”. She always held to her independence and got married when she thought it best. She was married almost 60 years. Widowed in 2000.
She has the best memories of her wedding. His father, Don Jesús Rosas, and his father-in-law, August Claudel (who came from France), both owners of coffee farms, organized parties for them. One on January 5 and another on January 6. She still smiles remembering those days when love was celebrated. Doña Juanita had eight children. Six survive him. Their youngest daughter, Damaris, was born when Juanita was 46 years old.
Her son Eddy points out that his mother has told him, and he has investigated on her own, that in those years it was very common for women around 50 to have babies.
Doña Juanita has 15 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. A family with which she does not know when she will be able to meet, but for now, health is a priority. Affection can come by calling.
She spends her days in her new house in Cartago; In a corner of the house, her son Eddy treasures an old sewing machine. Doña Juanita used it to make clothes for her eight children when they were children,
At that time they lived on a farm in that same province, where the mother ensured that her boys grew up healthy, supportive (they always shared with those who had less) and studious.
“My mom didn't study. She is authentically and legitimately a peasant. He was not only engaged in domestic trades. I was born on the farm. I remember that at home there was a cow. There was a monumental amount of chickens. It was around 1965.
“She was a housewife who took care of chickens, ducks and turtles. She sewed clothes for all of us. I remember a great quality of food. She raised her birds and her pigs. Produced cheese. At that time, barter was made, sweet tapas were exchanged for eggs. There was much more independence than today. She was the woman who built her freedom in the macho society. At 102 years old, she is full of desire to live and energy due to that libertarian spirit”, says Eddy. He is a consultant in business administration. Since the pandemic began, he has moved his office into his home. She already got used to sharing the whole day with him.
During the day, Juanita finds time to talk with her son. Usually she enjoys telling him how much fun she had at the dances. She remembers her youthful friends Ángela and Esperanza. And with special affection he recalls the moments with his brothers Alfredo, Juan Luis, Hernán, Esther, Jorge and Claudia. She especially remembers the latter for her joy and her usual songs when they were both girls and grew up in an environment of coffee, sugar cane and the railway.
In the memories of this centennial woman, her parents stand out. From them she inherited sweetness, strength and religiousness. This lady with a kind treatment but a strong temperament continues to be the head of the household. The queen of the house.
Among her most beloved possessions is an image of Saint Anthony that her mother gave her when Juanita made her first communion. She also keeps a San Isidro that her mother-in-law inherited when she became an evangelical. The lady sent it to her so that Juanita would take charge of praying for her. Both images are over a hundred years old.
Juanita also feels special affection, in this case maintaining her vanity, for a white dress and beige leather shoes. They are outfits that she hasn't worn for months because she stays at home.
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Juanita entertains herself by watching Discovery Kids, her favorite show is 44 cats. She also liked Chavo del Ocho, but she recently left the programming. His son Eddy raises a complaint: it is not possible that on national television there is no special programming for people of the fourth age (stage after 80 years).
A few years ago, Juanita stopped cooking and eating the same things as her children. She now enjoys mashed bananas, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. He also likes eggs and can not miss the freshwater. Food supplements are added to this diet. But beyond the food or the affection of the one who lives surrounded, the key to her vitality comes from the inside: she lives happily and without fearing death for a second.
“She talks to me, she's not afraid of death. When one believes that there is a better life, we are not afraid of death. She doesn't live thinking about if it doesn't dawn. He lives intensely and not because he thinks that this will be his last day, he lives thinking that every day is a new dawn”, intervenes his son Eddy, who says that his mother rarely feels alone. She likes company and has a special feeling for children.
Juanita Rosas Fernández was 80 years old when her grandson Ariel Figueroa Claudel was born, the son of Damaris, who works in education; Since her mother and sister lived near her, she supported her by taking care of the child when she left school.
For Ariel, now 22 years old and graduated as a journalist, that closeness with her grandmother and her aunt Dinorath have been the most valuable things in her young life.
“I have a maternal bond with my grandmother. After school, from kindergarten to school, I would come to her and my aunt's house for lunch and stay with them. I love my grandmother as if she were my mother. It is the same love that I feel for my mother and for my aunt”, says Ariel.
Ariel says that like his family, he has been concerned about protecting doña Juanita. They prefer not to overwhelm her with the subject of the coronavirus.
“I feel it is important to take care of the mental part of her. If one is shocked by everything related to the pandemic, she can be shocked more.
On that side, it was up to my sister and me to make her understand that the sick are others and not her. That what we want rather is to protect her from what we live, "adds Ariel.
The boy, who also studies audiovisual production and collaborated with the photos that accompany this text, keeps fond memories with his grandmother and after 22 years with her, he never ceases to be surprised by her stories.
“I'm impressed that my grandmother has been through all that stuff. Several flus, outbreaks of strange things, all that social change that took place in the country, because this Costa Rica is far from what it was in her youth. I'm also impressed that he's reached this age. She is very fit. I remember that at ninety-something years old, she was annoyed when they gave her the walker. She did not want. I was in the way. I even washed clothes. When my uncle observed it, he did use it”.
Ariel remembers the afternoons when after lunch they went to bed together to listen to the program Escuela para todos. Sometimes a single word made Doña Juanita relive some episode of her life, mainly from her youth, when she was fascinated by attending dances. All those anecdotes are clear in Ariel's mind.
“Another story he told as his own was the story of how his father-in-law left France during World War I. He arrived with his brothers but they were scattered in Central America. She made that anecdote of hers," he says.
In these six months of the pandemic, Ariel has seen her grandmother about five times. He avoids leaving her house and, of course, getting to hers in order to protect her from the virus. Of course, when Ariel arrives, Juanita's gaze lights up like the Christmas lights that they both like so much. She is very aware of it.
Ariel sees her grandmother as a treasure and is grateful to know that she is okay. As part of a new generation, she advises young people to value older adults, and to take extra care in these times.
“You have to take great care of them. Give them the love they deserve and give back what they have given us. In my case, I feel that since I was little I have given it back to my grandmother, "he added.
On Wednesday, September 2, when Ariel visited her grandmother to take pictures of her, she received him as sweetly as ever. This time she was not surprised that he was wearing the mask, or muzzle, as she jokingly calls the masks. Juanita understands that in times of a pandemic these accessories are part of a new normality, the one from which the world will overcome, says someone who has gone through, like few others, various world emergencies like the one we are experiencing today.
