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When she was younger, Amelia was chosen to be the Beauty Queen of her local shooting club in Baradero, Argentina. In the 1990s, with her children out of the house, she and her husband moved to Buenos Aires, where there was more to do. “I was always brimming with energy; I had to keep busy,” Amelia says. She learned to do manicures and pedicures and contributed to the family economy that way. After her husband died in 2000, she started to dance tango. She took every class she could find. Soon she was a regular at the milonga. Even now, at 95, she goes dancing twice a week. She likes getting dressed up to go out and she’s always perfectly put together, in an endless stream of outfits. “You must have closets full of clothes!” I say and she just rolls her eyes. “If you only knew.”
She’d like to go out dancing more like she used to but she’s saving for her next trip to Spain to see her daughter. “Some people have trouble traveling but I just get on the plane and go. I usually fall asleep but I take a book with me too.”
Do you like having your picture taken? I ask.
“My daughter takes so many photographs of me when I go to visit that I don’t know what they’ll do with them when I’m gone. Burn them, I guess.”
When we are done, I show her a sampling of photos on the back of my camera.
“Che,” she giggles, “I’ve sure got a lot of wrinkles.”
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