ciadoncha; ¡cuántos recuerdos - Webpages at SCU - Santa Clara ...

Women standing in the doorway of the church on a Sunday. 1995
Photo Lucía Varona
What is evident is that the years come and go, leaving tracks. The adults from the
past are the old ones of today and the old ones of the past are the elders of today. It is
difficult to accept that that handsome couple who was so full of life that walked through
the roads and paths of Ciadoncha in the 40s and 50s, today are the elders of the town and
that the boy that admired them so much before is today part of the older group. But that
is life and they are there, with all their wisdom, with all their years.
Old age
Talking with one participant who is in the select group of elders, he told me: “We
are the generation that has had to endure the most. First we had to endure with what our
parents imposed on us, then we had to send our children to study and now we have to
endure with what they impose on us.” There is a lot of truth in these words.
Father Emérito also clearly expressed that what is learned from the adults is their
resignation- the peace with which they accept what life gives them. I also believe that the
old people of Ciadoncha teach us those values. Old age has surprised them when they
began to enjoy the results of their work. Many of them had never traveled due to lack of
means to do so and now that they have them, they lack the health to do so. Nevertheless,
they are not embittered. It suffices to walk a little through the road of La Calzada and
they can be seen enjoying the sun, smiling and chatting while they move their cane or
their crutches.
The elders of today were the youth and adults of the post-war period. They lived
through a lot of economic difficulty, they never had money and they learned how to work
in the field since they were little children. They were also accepting orders from those
above them. The changes surprised them because they were unprepared and when they
came to realize it, it was their children that carried the reins and they remained behind.
Today, modernity scares them so much that the majority does not even want to try to
understand what cybernetics is. They are happy seeing how their children and
118