This Abuelita Had To Wait 64 Years But She Finally Made Her Quinceañera Dreams Come True
This abuelita always wanted to celebrate her quinces, and now at the age of 79, she finally did. Complete with the event’s classic necessities, a voluminous dress, tiered cake and chambelanes, this young-at-heart viejita made her dream come true. Gives new meaning to the phrase, ‘better late than never’ right?
The emotional story has social media shook—and naturally, it’s gone viral.
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The 79 year-old danced the traditional waltz with not-so-traditional chambelanes. Her dance partners were all her grandchildren. And what’s more; her own daughter planned the whole thing.
“Lo más hermoso que te puede pasar en toda tu vida, es ver a tu mamá feliz”
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Okay so get the tissue ready. This woman knew that her mom’s life-long dream had been to have had celebrated her Quince años with a big party —and equally big dress. And although she’s not quite quince anymore, it’s never too late to make someone’s dream come true. So Yolanda Luna set out to make her mami happy.
79 year old Nina Silva is from La Plata, Argentina.
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When she turned fifteen, her family wasn’t able to throw her the quinceañera party she always wanted, due to economic struggles, so she gave up hope of ever having one. But little did she know that she’d have to wait over 60 years to see her dream come true.
“Tu fiesta de quince años que no tuviste, hoy la estás viviendo como vos querías”
“The quince años party that you never had, you’re now experiencing the way you always wanted it,” read a post that Nina’s daughter Yolanda Luna posted on Facebook about the party.
The abuelita wore a silver and pink dress, and completed the look with a silver tiara.
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The party was made possible thanks to the help of family and friends. Many family members made food for the occasion, and everyone helped get the traditional cake.
No quinceañera would be complete without the traditional waltz.
The quinceañera obviously had her dance, and in Nina’s case, the chambelanes who accompanied her in this dance were all her children and grandchildren —we’re not crying, you’re crying.
Her own children were perhaps happier than the quinceañera herself, who wouldn’t stop smiling all night long.
The family hired a venue, a DJ and got the whole town to come together to celebrate their viejita. “A sus 79 años le cumplimos su sueño de tener su cumple de 15 que no pudo tener,“ wrote another one of Nina’s children, Soledad Luna. “At 79 we made her dream come true.”
Turning 15 is considered a momentous occasion, as it is the moment that they symbolically become young women.
While the quinceañera celebrations may have more in common with a wedding than a birthday party, they’re a traditional and enduringly popular rite of passage for many young Latinas. The Quinceañera, which literally translates to “the girl who is 15,” signifies a young girl’s transition in becoming a woman, and a lot of the traditions and elements of the party symbolize her transition and growth into womanhood.
For many, a quinceañera is seen simply as an excuse for a blow-out party with family and friends
The actual significance of the tradition is tied into both Catholic and pre-Hispanic culture. Many years ago, this celebration was rather more literal than symbolic; in pre-Hispanic times, 15 was considered the appropriate age to begin childbearing, and in the 20th century the right time to be married. Luckily, this no longer tends to be the case, but even so the quinceañera tradition has endured.
Nina’s celebration is proof that you don’t have to be fifteen to celebrate your Quinces. Get yourself a puffy dress and some chambelanes, because you’re never too old to celebrate womanhood.
