My Life in Argentina and Beyond

Nadia died early in the morning of Thursday, June 10, 1999. It must have been at around 2 A.M. That’s when she must have noticed that the candle on her night table had caught on something, probably a piece of paper. She must have rushed to the kitchen and got some pots and pans to make noise. But nobody came to her aid until somebody on her floor (the 10th) noticed that there was smoke coming from under the door. The fire dept. found her with her hand clutching the house keys. Otranto and Niebla, her 2 older dogs died with her. The Rolex watch she was wearing (a souvenir of her prosperous days) was stolen by somebody. May She rest in Peace!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009: Today is the 10th anniversary of the last full day of Nadia’s life. She had come to my apt. as she did almost every morning and was standing on one of my chairs trying to fix the white drapes in the window looking out at Avenida Maipu. She was happy (or content) when she came to my place. Nadia, who had her own apt. messy and dirty, in part because of her Alzheimer’s, often did the dishes when we were done with tea in my living room. I still cannot believe that so much time has gone by since I lost her, Otranto and Niebla, her two older dogs.

Today would have been Nadia’s 85th birthday. It seems incredible that 10 years ago today she came to my apt. in Vicente Lopez and we had a little get together to celebrate. She told me I was the only person who remembered her birthday. Nadia was not my relative; we were not related in any way, but to this day I feel a bond that goes beyond my normal feelings for an alone and totally unprotected elderly woman. It’s as if we were/had been related in another more important way. I have tried to explain it to myself many times, but I can’t. She was more than my friend and neighbor, a lot more than that and I don’t think that it had much to do with the fact that Nadia and I spent the last 4 months and one week of her life almost living together

Tuesday, June 10, 2008: It was a Thursday. Very early in the morning. You tried everything to survive, just like had done it your entire life, but the fire was too great. You thought of everything to draw attention to yourself and your dogs. I know they barked for help, and I know you must have yelled.

Monday, June 9, 2008: Tomorrow it will be 9 years. Nadia died 9 years ago in that horrible fire. It was a Thursday morning and she did everything she could to ask for help. No one came until it was too late. She died of asphixiation, with two of her dogs, Otranto and Niebla. The firemen found her next to the front door. She had been clutching the house keys.

March 30, 2008: Today would have been Nadia’s 84th birthday. I only knew her for four months and a week, but I have never forgotten her. Nadia had something that tugged at my heartstrings. I loved her very much. She had been a self-made woman who suddenly lost it and ended up living in a large and filthy apt. With her 3 dogs. No one was taking care of her when I met her on February 3, 1999.
I had seen her around the neighborhood walking her black dog Otranto, but we didn’t talk until that Wednesday afternoon. I was on my way to the movies to see the modern version of the Cinderella tale, starring Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston. I had noticed her dark brown eyes and the dark circles under them and her long black and white hair. She was dressed shabbily—baggy trousers, dirty tennis shoes and a long sleeved top. I didn’t want to be late for the movie, which was all the way in the Palermo neighborhood, almost an hour away from Vicente Lopez. But I wanted to talk to her. After that, we ran into each other until she invited me up to her apt. on the 1700 block of Avenida Maipu. It was something out of the Miss Havisham character in Dickens’ novel Great Expectations.
That March 30, 1999 Nadia had a better birthday. I went to Depto. 10 F, knocked on her door. Her dogs were behind her when she opened. I will never forget her face, or the way Otranto, Niebla and Rubio were protecting her. You were the only one who remembered, she told me. That evening we had a little party in my apt. There was a cake, sandwiches, tea and coffee. Even her adopted son showed up. Nadia was happy.