We have bumped into mom!

“That espadrille is backwards”, “How about this dress there?”, “Can I have a suggestion?”, “I think that would look better if…”, “I'm not going to tell you what I think, but... know that...", "If I already knew..."

That's my mother. No matter how well you do things and even if you take care of every last detail, always, and I emphasize, always, There will be something to correct, something to improve. He can't help it. The one who demands the most is from herself and from others, whether you like it or not, her demand comes to us as a rebound. Or completely. Especially if you share a workspace. And it is that in The old Iriarte, with the mother we have collided!

Margarita Fernández, whom everyone knows as Nini, or Mini or Mimí (because these easy, two-syllable names tend to be the most complicated in the end), is the soul of the store. I have already told you in another post the story of El Antiguo Iriarte, but today, Mother's Day, I want to pay tribute to the person who has made this business what it has been and what it is today.

Dark-haired, graceful, flirtatious, delighted to have met and with a hell of a temper are some of the traits that define my mother. And I continue. Organized, smart as hunger, methodical, determined, generous and perfectionist. Poof! I think I could write several books about Nini. But today I'll just try to summarize, if I can, what it's like to work with her. I tell you that one enjoyment. As long as you take it with humor and put it into perspective. If not, you are a dead person.

-Mom, I'm going to enter the Christmas window display contest-

-What nonsense, it's rigged. I showed up years ago with a gorgeous guy and didn't win anything. They always give it to the same ones-

I won the first prize unanimously, as they told me later at the ceremony of presenting the plaque and the check that accredited me as the winner. The following year, I ran again.

-Mom, what do you think about recreating the Christmas lottery draw for the window and, if it looks good, submit it to the contest?

-I can't wait to complicate your life! With what stresses you! Also don't think that you are going to win two years in a row-

I didn't win, actually, but I came second.

It is also true that there was a third contest that I entered and, as predicted, I came out empty-handed. A contest in which, yes, the same people almost always win.

It's not that Nini distrusts the ability of her peers to achieve certain achievements, but keeping up with them is difficult. It's not in vain that at home we always call her Mrs. Perfecta. As soon as he fixed the TV, he would hang a painting, he would teach you how to drive, he would beat you at billiards, he would beat you at Parcheesi, he would sew the hem of a dress for you or he would make you some squid in his ink that you licked your fingers. Few people match her in energy and ability. And being his daughter is hard. Either you pass on everything or you seek his admiration and become his clone. He got one daughter from each. Guess who is who.

But if the old Iriarte has been in the gap for more than 50 years, it is thanks to mom (well, and my aunt Josefina, who also fought her own). Mom took the reins of accounting and carried it forward in difficult times, she put up hundreds of shop windows (the old ones, filled to bursting because “the shop window is what sells the most, daughter”), she dealt with representatives and bought more or less less success in thousands of samples, sold what is not written, listened to the lives and miracles of many clients, when Go away She also sold men's products, and it was where she took refuge when life hit her in the hardest way it can hit a mother, with the loss of a child. Our brother Juancho.

Nini arrived at the store at full speed in her 600. Before, the old town was not pedestrianized and she parked nearby. Behind the wheel, he drove like hell, always in a hurry (he hasn't changed one bit in that regard). She liked and still likes to wear a pencil skirt, it looks good on her, she has divine legs and she knows it. She is also seduced by transparencies and generous necklines (“Mom, your underwear is visible,” I told her one day when she was a child. “Let them suffer, daughter, let them suffer,” she replied). I always remember her getting out of the car, with her skirt raised a little to make it easier for her to get up and show off her legs, and walking with panache down Magdalena Street, swaying her hips and looking cool. Even today, when she enters the store in the morning, she does so as if she were the Queen of Sheba. As Vane and I always tell him: “It's a good thing you barely reach 1'60 because if you get taller, with that cockiness, anyone will cough on you.” She loves it and struts even more. “How envious you are,” he tells us.

Very fond of soccer, she is one of those who insults the referee, the coach and the players if they do not perform on the field. He even tells them how to play. Watching a sports broadcast with her is nerve-wracking. Especially when it starts with bad omens. “They're going to lose, I'm seeing it”, “I'm leaving because I bring them bad luck”, “This gives me a bad feeling”… Of course, she, who considers herself half a fortune teller, always knows what is going to happen. Not just in sports. With your first boyfriend, with your friends, with work, with...window competitions...

He has a very peculiar sense of humor, he is passionate about reading and traveling and dancing is not his thing. And of course, although it is great, it is already a few years old and is losing some ability. He handles it terribly. Better not to be around when he forgets to add saffron to the paella or when he loses the latest model and very expensive sunglasses he just bought.

I don't know, it's hard for me to write about my mother. It's so much fun that the scriptwriters of "Seven lifes" They would rub their fingers if they knew her. But when you reflect on someone you love so much and put it on paper, it stirs up too many things. And now that I have made this effort to describe to you what the employment relationship between one mother and his two daughters I am being aware, and I am moved when I say this, of how lucky we are to share this space. Sometimes you deny the family because problems arising from work become personal or family problems, and that mix is not healthy. However, at this precise moment, when making this kind of caricature, which I do not portray, of Nini, I believe that her strength, her energy and her vitality have been and are the driving force of our lives. I have never met anyone so alive. Thanks Mom. Good day.

1. Isabel Alonso Martin via Facebook May 3, 015

Precious!!!

either Elantiguoiriarte May 4, 2015

Thank you Isabel. My father has gotten all jealous and says that I didn't write him anything for Father's Day. Is right. Next year, it's his turn. A kiss and thanks again for reading us and for participating.

2. Teresa Martinez Marques via Facebook May 3, 2015

Sandra, I always love your writings… today's much more!!!!

either Elantiguoiriarte May 4, 2015

o Thank you Teresa. Your words encourage me to continue writing and telling you things about the store and life. Today's text was a very special text because it touched many chords.

3. Maria Jesus Menendez via Facebook May 3, 2015

4. Ah, very, very, very pretty.

either Elantiguoiriarte May 4, 2015

or yes? She was and is beautiful, the damn one. And those photos from yesteryear... Why do all mothers have those black and white images with that porcelain skin? I have never had a photo like this. Ha ha. Maybe I haven't had skin like that either. Thank you María Jesús. A kiss.

5. Belen Suarez Garcia via Facebook May 3, 2015

Great description…! Even if there were no photos, I wouldn't doubt who these letters were addressed to…!

either elantiguoiriarte May 4, 2015

o Thank you Belén. And thank you also for your previous advice, for putting yourself in the role of another Capricorn. Ha ha. You know he loved it. She got emotional, cried and didn't disinherit me. You know what I mean. A kiss, beautiful.

6. Graciela May 3, 2015

How beautiful Sandra, I love how you write. I see your mother perfectly reflected. A hug to all!

either elantiguoiriarte May 4, 2015

Thank you Graciela. I really like writing and I enjoy doing it, but I also like to be liked and that you read me and let me know that it pleases you, it makes me feel really good. I already give the girls a hug for you.

7. Luis Diez through Facebook May 3, 2015

I loved Sandra, fabulous, really, almost as sensational as your mother. From here I send her a big kiss.

either Elantiguoiriarte May 4, 2015

Thanks Luis. I had a great time writing it. I really want to go to La Vecilla to talk about my beloved town... I kiss my mother on your behalf and convey your words to her.

8. Nacho Vela via Facebook May 4, 2015

So perfectionist that he is from Sporting

either elantiguoiriarte May 4, 2015

Ha ha. You've discovered it! I didn't put it in so as not to offend the sensibilities of the Oviedo clients. But yes, mom is a SPORTINGUISTA to the core and doesn't lose a game. He is capable of resurrecting to go to a meeting at the Molinón. By the way, congratulations on Sunday's victory. As she said: “This was another good gift for Mother's Day.”

9. Enrique Pinin through Facebook May 4, 2015

Wonderful report,,,,,,

The old go through Facebook May 4, 2015

Thank you for your comments and for following the blog. I have answered all of you on the web. Let me tell you that this entry was a surprise for my mother, one more gift from the day we were celebrating. And he loved it. I read it to him on the street, next to the Luanco church, looking at the sea. He got very excited. And I'm excited that you all like it. A kiss

10. Carmen Alvarez via Facebook May 4, 2015

I love it!!! I think it is a very nice gift.

11.María Fernández López through Facebook

May 4, 2015

Marvelous