NINA PARA TODOS

 

In many families, a female member who became a godmother (matlina, or nina) for one baby in the family was called NINA by everybody, even by those who were not her godchildren.

This often happened with women who never married, or at least who never had children of their own.

Single women often became godmothers because, having no husband and usually no children of their own, they could really put their all into being a godmother. All her godchildren could receive her undivided attention, since she had no biological children of her own.

And, reciprocally, the single woman with no children of her own, now had spiritual children to make up for the absence and, many times, actually raise the godchildren as her own.

So, some lady named Ana, for example, never married nor had children. So she became godmother to this child, then another child a year later and a third child two years later. On and on she became godmother to so many children that people just ended up calling her Nina'n Ana even if they weren't her godchildren.

Even if Ana were not godmother to many children, if she was the godmother of an oldest child or an important member of the family, the younger children heard the oldest child call her Nina, and so they followed suit and called her Nina as well. Or, because she was godmother to a high-ranking member of the family who called her Nina, everyone else called her Nina.

And so one example of a godmother who was called Nina by everyone, even those who were not her godchildren, was Tomasa Pereira León Guerrero from the Pakito clan.

Tomasa never married, but adopted a daughter. She also raised a number of children. Every younger member of the family called her Nina, whether she was their godmother or not.

SHE WAS OUR AUNT, BUT EVERYONE CALLED HER NINA

Rita Pérez Torres

In my own family, one of my grandmother's sisters never married and was godmother to a number of nieces and nephews, so she was called Nina by practically everyone.

NINA'N WIRICK

Eugenia SN Dueñas Wirick

And Eugenia San Nicolás Dueñas, one of our relatives, married later in life to the American Melvin Wirick. She never had children but was godmother to children inside the clan so she was called Nina'n Wirick by everybody. No one in our family called her Tan Eugenia or Auntie Eugenia; only Nina'n Wirick whether she was our own godmother or not.