Now
86, She Raised 23 Children, 20 of Her Own
And Three Adopted
Saturday was Mother's Day in Costa Rica,
when all mothers were honoured on their
special day. But, there is one mother in
special that stands out from the rest, it is
the case of 82 year old Elodia Rubí Artavia.
Elodia is mother to 23 children - 20 by
natural child birth and three adopted, which
now has grown to 86 grandchildren and great
grandchildren.
Among the great grandchildren are the
quintuplets of Elizabeth Camacho and
Mauricio Rojas born last July 1.
"My granddaughter is very brave. I gave
birth to 20, but five at one time? Que va!",
said Elodia.
The hardest for Elodia, as she tells it, is
seeing three of her children die, two dying
at the age of 1 and the third at 33.
"My children are my treasure. They are good
kids, they all get along well", says Elodia
who is originally from La Uruca in San José,
moving to Birrí de Heredia at the age of 15
and then to Puriscal.
Elodia not only has the strength to bear 20
children but also the bravery and strength
to adopt three more, who happen to be her
grandchildren.
Elodia explains that her daughter married at
the age of 17 and became a widow at 20 with
two children and later after having another
child decided to give all three children to
her mother.
How does she do it? Elodia says that she has
started her day all her life at 3am,
beginning with the cooking and housework.
"You can't give in to illness", says Elodia
as her secret to maintain her "pochotona",
who admits that she now has a difficult time
walking and cannot do her housework any
longer.
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