Fantasy Nannies (+photos)

Children who attend daycares will always have memories of their  nannies, the same way those nannies will always remember each of the kinds they helped to raise

Every now an then, Caridad Quesada Cala evokes the faces of the children she took care of decades ago. Whenever she meets them, no matter how changed they are, she always has a comment to make. “I remember her face; her hair was like yours now, she and her sister ate very well, they were both very affectionate”, she said while staring at one of my daughters at the bus stop, the other day.

But Caridad doesn’t know that the children she helped to raise will always remember their nanny “Caruca”, as they used to call her.

They also remember the other fantasy nannies they had, whom they believe hard to meet again, not only because years don’t come back, but also because time changes and people are not the same, either.

Fantasy nannies leave a trace of tenderness behind, as if Celia or Vilma, who inspired the creation of daycares in Cuba fifty-five years ago, would have anointed them with their grace and love.

(Photos: Delia Proenza and Vicente Brito)