She was born in 1904 and was orphaned 6 years later, when her mother died after having birth a less able babygirl. So Gumersinda, who had just turned 6, was sent to the priest's house to work as a servant, where she was to stay until the priest died, around which time she was fortyish. In her twenties she had been about to marry a young man, but the damn priest didn't allow them! From that time onwards she wasn't to have any other relationships with any other men and, strange as it may seem, she remained working for that boss as if nothing had happened... Well, not so weird, actually, as she was really reliant on that job since she had no other place to live in. Furthemore she was the only person who cared after her disturbed sister Erundina as all their other siblings had emigrated to Argentina.
During all those years she had been setting money aside in order to get built her own house, aim which she achieved. Both Gumersinda and Erundina moved into their humble dwell and soon afterwards, Gumersinda asked my grandparents (my grandmother was her niece) to come and live with them. She needed someone who looked after her sister while she was working and, in return, she would help them by sharing her home. Her propposal came out of the blue since they had had a relationship for roughly 15 years, but hadn't married because they were really poor and had neither a house to live in nor the money to get one built or to buy a piece of land where they could work. So they inmediately accepted.
They went on being a poor family and everyone had to work. My grandfather emigrated to Switzerland where he worked for several years in the railways , my grandmother was a dressmaker, Erundina had 3 or 4 cows, one pig and several hens and rabbits, and Gumersinda had managed to become a great chef while working as a servant, which turned out to be really helpful every time the family had economical problems (too often). She used to work in places that were something like 20 km away and she went there on foot and alone! She left early in the morning and came back late at night... Amazing tireless brave woman!
A few years later my great grandaunt found a new job. She was to be an important doctor's servant for several years. His wife was a teacher and, having seen Gumersinda couldn't read or write, she taught her for free. The first letter she was able to read made her cry, both with joy (she was truly reading a letter addressed to her for the first time in her whole life!) and sorrow, as she was told to return home as soon as possible because her sister was very ill.
Take notice she had lost her mother being a very little girl, and from that very moment onwards she had to work really hard all her life. Despite her life was dreadfully difficult, she would always try to help everbody and care for everyone. Having never going to school, while working as a servant for rich people, she perfectly learnt how to look after herself so that no-one could ever cheat her, even being single and poor as she was.
In a nutshell, working restless she managed to got her house built, paid her social security and her sister's, gave my grandparents a home, and brought up my mother, my brother and me. Was one of the first people in the hamlet who had electricity and running water, helped to dig her own well... By the way, thanks heavens we still have it, if not our farm would run out of water in summer. It never ever gets dry! Still useful and even essential so many years later!
Last but not least, my parents built a bigger house as the family was growing and Gumersinda agreeded to convert her own old house (which had required so many efforts to be built) into a farm in order we could have many more cows. But she knew it was a great step forward, so... I usually wonder who else would have done that. I'll tell you: NO-ONE! It must have been sooooooo heartbreaking seeing her beloved house being smashed down... This proves she was a wonderful woman, a real angel, don't you think so?
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