6 years more

Since I came to the Azores Islands 11 years ago, I regularly make the road to this small parish of Porto Martins and I almost always see this lady sitting in the same place; A low wall that lines the road and separates it from the neighboring yards. A few days ago, Mrs. Maria João, 89, let me photograph her in her house and showed me how she remembers those she already lost through the few photos she still has. Describes each portrait with nostalgia and affection. "I have more than five hundred great-granddaughters," she says, not knowing for sure. Ms. Maria João spends most of the day sitting on the sofa, where she also sleeps because it's not to high as her bed. The other part of the time, is passed on a wall in front of her house. "I have not been to the city for many years, nor do I want to go." Her voice asks not to talk about it anymore; "To be well, it is in my land". The ear that she's already lacks, is compensated by the light and fun voice with which she tells her life, without reservations or great secrets. From having already flogged the baker with his staff, to the traditional soups of the "Holy Spirit" that she offers annually "for the soul of those who have not eaten", she distributes the daily life of a long and not always easy life that she shares with her daughter, granddaughter and Great-granddaughter in her little house. She learned recently that she's having only six years more. It is the creased drawings in her hand that mark her death, according to the gypsy who charged her 5 euros for the news. "It will be good if I have six years more..."