June 6, 2004
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The Thirteenth Month
Delia's mother, Carmela Villarreal de Tudisco, gave up the ghost just before midnight on Saturday. She had reached the age of 94 years before her body gave out.
Like her sister, Delia 'Chellita' Villarreal, Carmela had been an elementary school teacher in David, Chiriqui Provence, Republic of Panama. Both had received retired pay as a result, but it wasn't enough to live on. They had both lived with their daughter, Fatima Stella Tudisco V., until their deaths.
Literacy was a problem in Panama for many years because only a small number of children attended school. The commonest reason for their not being able to attend was lack of supplies, especially shoes.
When General Omar Torrillos took over the government of Panama, he changed that by creating what was called the "Thirteenth Month". Under his new law, all employers were required to pay employees an additional month's wages each year ... but in a very special manner. Half of that amount was to be paid at the beginning of December, to provide food and clothing for the holiday season (but not for toys or liquor). The other half was paid in spring, at the beginning of Panama's school year, in the form of shoes and other equipment for the children that would permit them to attend classes.
School attendance soared, with a resulting increase in literacy throughout the country.
The Thirteenth Month became an institution so popular that even Noriega couldn't try to cancel it without risking riots and loss of power.
If Torrillos was a leader in the battle against illiteracy in Panama, Carmela and Chellita were soldiers in that same battle.
Comments (3)
I'm sorry for your loss.
I'm sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. She did actually survive much longer than I anticipated. When your son was talking about her holding conversations with relatives who had passed on, I assumed that her days upon the Earth were very limited. I have come upon this time and time again within my own family - and they never survived more than a few weeks beyond this phase. The miraculous thing is that she not only survived this period, but actually came out of it. My mother and both of her parents all went through this period of talking to dead relatives - none of them were really concerned about it, though...it was all very natural to them.
I'm sorry about the loss, though...as it is always the people left on Earth who feel it the most.
I hope your mother-in-law passed peacefully, it sounds she lived a very full and long life.
Thank you for sharing about the 13th Month, it is a wonderful story.
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