2.17.2013

A LONG LIFE

Sometimes we meet interesting people on our life journey and sometimes these people make you think of how incredible life can be. I had the good pleasure today of meeting and taking photos of the oldest person in Barra de Navidad. No one really knows her true age because in this part of the world (Central Mexico) they didn’t have accurate records in the past ... but all the locals agree that she is at least 100 years old and probably older.

Her name is Natalia and she is a native Mexican who was raised by a Chinese family in Barra de Navidad. As the story goes, when Natalia was just a baby her mother went to this family and asked them to watch Natalia for a few days, but never returned. So Natalia was raised by this family who taught her to be a loving, laughing, and spirited woman.

To give you a little history about how I ended up taking pictures of her. This is what happened ... I had first seen Natalia several months ago at the local tortilla store in Barra de Navidad buying tortillas. Later that day I asked my wife about her and my wife told me that she was the oldest person in Barra de Navidad. So I told my wife that I would like to take a picture of her sometime. Then one day a few weeks ago we were buying avocados on the street from her great, great grandson and we mentioned to him that I would like to take a picture of his grandmother (abuela), he laughed and said, “you want to take a photo of my grandmother (abuela), well ok.” So I guess after this encounter, this little guy went home and told the family I would like to take photos of his abuela. So then, a few days ago my wife ran into a family member and they told my wife that I/we could take photos of Natalia. There was one condition and that was to come by their home in the morning before Natalia takes her morning walk to get tortillas, because after that she is usually busy doing activities throughout the day.

Today was the day I captured Natalia's energy and spirit with my camera and it was an absolute special time. We asked Natalia what her secret was ... she said, “her long life is attributed to taking walks, laughing, eating fresh fish and tortillas every day, God, and loving and living with her family.”





Seas the day,
Robert Hansen


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