2023-08-02 12:19:25
On Saturday, July 22, Luisa Cantero, better known as “la Tata”, passed away. The actress moved hundreds of people around the world following her participation in the Netflix documentary 100 days with Tatadirected by Miguel Ángel Muñoz, his great-nephew.
What was special regarding “la Tata”? I honestly don’t know because I didn’t have the honor of meeting her in person, but what I did have (and thank God I still have) is the pleasure of living with older people with the same light as Luisa.
Like the Spanish director, I too was raised by my grandmother. My parents worked long hours so she was dedicated to taking care of me and my brother until they came home. The bond I formed with “la Yeyi” (as I nicknamed her as a child) is something that, as Michelangelo said in 100 days with Tata, “can not explain”. It is a relationship so strong that only those who live it can understand it.
At first, Muñoz thought that the film was a whim of his to spend more time with his dear aunt/grandmother, but in the end it ended up being an empirical story with which many of us feel identified. When the director was filming some fragments of the audiovisual production, the pandemic arrived and the confinement turned everything around.
100 days with Tata: a documentary that generates empathy
While the two lived in a small apartment in the middle of Spain, the actor documented every part of his routine with Luisa. There they created, among other things, “la CuarenTata”, a live broadcast space where they shared the circumstances of the confinement with their followers, laughed at their funny occurrences and fulfilled those things that Cantero had never done in his life, such as , paint their lips or dress as a nun.
In a matter of months, “la Tata” and Miguel created a community that felt reflected in their experiences, both good and bad. “I have realized how difficult it is to take care of an elderly person, how responsible it is and how undervalued it is,” said the director in the film.
Today, my 86-year-old grandmother Yeye has the health problems of her body and her life journey; she lost a son and a husband; sometimes her legs do not respond as she would like; her grandchildren grew up and she no longer has them every day; her children walk a thousand and do not have the time they would like to dedicate to it; Sometimes she gets frustrated, bitter and doesn’t feel like leaving her house… But she still wants to continue living and sharing her life stories with me.
La Yeyi has a golden memory. They remember what she experienced at the age of four as if it were yesterday. Maybe I spend an entire followingnoon listening to the same story she told me last week, but the truth is I don’t care. For me, I would be listening to her talk all day, cooking together and discussing her life, between her conception and mine.
Why is “la Tata” so special?
It is by valuing those moments and treasuring them deep in my soul that I understand how special “la Tata” is for Miguel and for his more than 380,000 Instagram followers. The most magical thing is that like Luisa there are thousands of older people who conquer the hearts of all generations, even when they have left this earthly plane (as in the case of Belito Rafael García on TikTok).
The intergenerational link serves as a bridge between the deepest social gaps. Communication between generations is extremely valuable and productions like 100 days with Tata make it more than clear. Old age teaches us a lot and at the same time they have an enormous desire to help and learn.
We can all be Miguel, even without the budget to make a movie; You only need enough time and patience to listen and exchange unforgettable moments, and not only with the elderly in your family, but also with those of the community you live in.
Thanks to the degree thesis that we did with my partner Sofía, we met incredible older women who live in one of the many residences in Córdoba. Each story they told us was kept in our conscience with much love and respect because in each story they gave us what was truly invaluable: their memory.
Despite the fact that “la Tata” is no longer here, Miguel will continue to spread his legacy and it will remain in us forever, just like my grandmother’s and all the older people who give us that, memory, affection and hope for the day. a day.
Before she died, Luisa left a beautiful letter as a way of teaching everyone where she expressed: “It is very good here and I am happy to have already come. I needed it and Miguelito has been brave to accompany me until the last moment, giving me his hand as I did with my mother. Don’t be sad and don’t be afraid of death. We are born to die and when the Lord wants, just as he brings us, he takes us ”.
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