South Florida woman saddles up to celebrate 102nd birthday
MIAMI - Life has not always been easy for 102-year-old Anita Alvarez. As her daughter-in-law, Jossie Alvarez, put it "She has taught us just how to lead a well-lived life. That's what we have learned from her."
Anita, her family, and friends recently gathered to celebrate her 102nd birthday, Anita took it all in sharp as a tack.
"For months now, maybe six months ago, she started saying she wanted to ride a horse for her 102nd year," said Jossie Alvarez.
There is a good reason for that request. As Anita tells it, "I was born and raised on the farm, a milk farm. When we grew up we always had horses."
Horses were a big part of Anita's life in Cuba.
But there is much more to the story. It is all about how and where husband-to-be Juan Carlos Idelfonso Alvarez Aballi, nicknamed "Bebo," proposed marriage. It happened in the midst of a rainstorm when both were on horseback. "
"We were away from the group and he says to me 'I am calling my mother to come meet her new daughter-in-law'. I turned around and said 'Are you getting married?' 'Yep, to you,' (he replied). So that was my marriage proposal on top of a horse," recalled Anita.
It was an idyllic marriage, there was a growing family, and then tragedy. Anita's husband was suddenly gone, swept up by the Castro Revolution. Aballi was executed by a Castro firing squad.
Eventually, Anita and her five children moved to the U.S. She worked in the insurance industry and raised the kids.
Anita has always been a tower of strength. She worked extremely hard all her life to provide for her family without her husband by her side. Years later, she is the matriarch of a large and successful family.
So what to do about celebrating Anita's 102 birthday? She had been pushing for the horse ride. So at 102, if you want to ride a horse and can, why not the family reasoned? They booked Anita's party and horse ride at Tinez Farms in the heart of the Redland.
When the big moment came, Anita needed a little help getting on the horse but from then on it was all her in the saddle.
"Que rico," Anita shouted to the crowd. "I feel great, this is my life."
It was all laughter and clapping as Anita paraded the horse around the farmyard.
"Yeah, yeah, the ride, yahoo," she repeated as she took the ride she had wanted. For Anita, it was "mission accomplished" at 102 years of age. It was a happy birthday and Anita has a special forever memory.