One of the cutest memories my mother gave me from her childhood in Cuba was of her, age 4 or 5, in the kitchen of their Vedado home reading out loud.
Little Adelita would sometimes sit on a counter with a book in hand, reading in English to ‘las criadas’ or the maids.
My mother would smile as she told this story because at age 4 or 5 she could neither read, nor speak English very well.
I can just picture my mother as a petite girl, often with a big bow on her tiny blond head, speaking with confidence and sitting upright and proud. She’s convinced that ‘las criadas’ are falling for her charade.
Since birth, she’s heard enough American English to pronounce some real words and to deliver the sounds and distinct cadence that to her young ears should pass as the perfect fake ‘ingles’.
Of course, my mother would give a sample of her fake English each time she described that scene. So funny – it did sound American.
Little Adelita. In so many early photos, she’s wearing a big bow on her tiny blond head. Havana, circa 1934.
Image © DeZaldo y Moré 2021
Like an actress honing her craft, Adelita would apparently stop by the kitchen often to put on a grand performance of some kind while dinner was being prepared around her.
The maids, one of whom would have had to help perch her up on the kitchen counter, must have been somewhat entertained by little Adelita’s constant theatrics and bursts of energy around the house.
A few surviving photos say everything about my mother as a child
I know few details about that house in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana where those events took place, or even about the people who would have passed through there.
But not long ago I discovered photos of my mother from that era, and you can tell that she was trouble, in an exuberant kind of way.
Adelita and Elenita de Zaldo y Moré, posing on their balcony. Havana, circa 1934.
Image © DeZaldo y Moré 2021
My mother’s older sister, Elenita, often in those same photos, might not have always considered Adelita so cute. My aunt Elenita was more reserved and elegant, and certainly more thoughtful and patient than my mother. And you get the impression from those pictures that little Adelita – or Chiqui, as the family called her – probably both entertained and exasperated her.
“Ay, Chiqui!,” I could hear Elenita say.
Chiqui would have been the one running through the house on an adventure, or making some insistent and vocal demand. Her personality seems to wriggle out from those wonderful black and white images that survive.
Adelita in a toy airplane. Always posing, as if putting on a show. Havana, circa 1934.
Image © DeZaldo y Moré 2021
Thinking back to my childhood, I can relate to some of those demanding antics as a little girl – yes, you can call them bratty.
And my own two sons definitely inherited some of those more exuberant Chiqui traits – like always coming up with busy adventures in and around the house, or putting on performances in person or in front of a camera. Those more assertive parts of our personalities – mine and of my sons – I know came from my mother, and the thought makes me smile.
Adelita’s stories would bring Havana’s past to life
As I grew up, far from Havana and any Cuban family, my mother’s vivid stories about her childhood would bring her memories to life. She rarely offered many details, just enough color, flavor, and sounds to take me back to those times.
Like her stories about the street vendors passing near her home – the “pregoneros” selling fruits and vegetables or candies in 1930s Havana.
Havana street vendor, early 1900s. Photo courtesy Library of Congress-Prints and Photographs Division.
To describe the tamales vendor, my mother would mimic his call to customers as he walked down the street, shouting out, “Pican… y no pican…. los tamales!” She’d love performing his cry, accentuating the Cuban pause between words and a strong staccato on the first syllables.
Even my sons remember hearing that story from my mother, and they can now perform the tamales vendor’s exact call with perfect rhythm, timing, and distinct Cuban flair.
Another great memory I loved to hear was about the times her Tio Alberto would sneak out with my mother and her sister – when they were a bit older and bedtime was still so early – to go get “fritas y batidos”, or Cuban-style burgers and milk shakes.
Tio Alberto would knock on the sisters’ bedroom window from the big wrap around porch, and off they’d go to enjoy an extended evening out in downtown Havana.
I don’k think my grandparents, or anyone else who lived in that house, would have been upset about those adventures with Tio Alberto.
It was a large family with many regular visitors, and my mother spoke often of small gatherings at the house, or out on the spacious front porch. From those stories and others I have heard, it seemed important at that home to find ways to enjoy life with family and friends, in spite of the challenges that were always present in day-to-day Cuba.
Remembering my mother today brings me happy thoughts
I’ve never been to Cuba – but those special memories my mother shared of her native land are now my memories.
With her stories she painted for me more of the happy moments from her childhood in Cuba. That era in Havana as a young girl were remembered from her singular perspective – as the littlest in a family that seemed in a constant whir of activities, characters, and events.
And if there were unhappy memories from my mother’s life in Havana through the 1930s, 40s and 50s – and I’m sure there were – she rarely spoke of them.
What’s the point in remembering such things? I believe avoiding less pleasant thoughts is a perspective she inherited from her father, my grandfather René De Zaldo y Parra, and I am grateful for that.
Ay, Chiqui.
On this day, the anniversary of her passing in 2014, I remember my mother’s exuberant spirit, her vivid stories, and her love. Each year I realize more how essential she was to making my world a happier place.
Adelita de Zaldo y Moré, during her 84 years, made an impression on many people with her warmth and incomparable style. And we still smile when we think back to those charmed little moments we got to experience with Adelita in life.