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Edita Enriquez de Martinez Piedra 1930-2015
Born in Havana in 1930, Nonna, as we all called her (with a long “o,” as in Italian) grew up in a Cuba that seemed to represent a last outpost of the Edwardian era or the belle epoque. The landowning families all lived in mansions modeled on the townhouses of Paris and Madrid, all knew each other, and all observed European standards of dress and decorum.
Her family coffee plantation, Finca Edita, just outside Havana, ran for seven miles along the beach and a mile inland. Her grandfather, the Marqués Carrera, had served as the first ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to Spain. (When the marqués presented his credentials, Alfonso XIII remained bitter over the loss of his favorite colony. “Tell me, señor embajador,” the king said, “how are things in Havana? As corrupt as ever?” “Su majestad,” the marqués replied, bowing low, “our Spanish inheritance.”) Although she lost her father while still a girl, she lived with her mother and sister in a big apartment overlooking the Malecón. She went to school with the Sacred Heart nuns. A beauty—dark eyes, dark hair, an irresistible laugh, and a manner that combined elegance with simplicity—she attended parties in all the great houses of Havana.
When she married Alberto Martinez Piedra she settled happily into the life for which she had been raised. A mansion in Havana. Two cooks, two housemaids, gardeners, and a nurse for each child—Alberto was born in 1956, Javier in 1958, and Pedro in 1959. She oversaw the servants, entertained, supported her husband in his academic career—Alberto had become a professor of economics at the University of Havana—and visited the Havana Yacht Club, where the young mothers talked while their children scampered on the beach.
Then the Cuban Revolution took place.
As soon as Castro consolidated his control, Alberto received an invitation to join the new ministry of economics, delivered in a manner that made clear he would not enjoy the consequences if he declined. He worked in the ministry three months before deciding he had no choice: He would have to get his family out of the country. They left behind everything but a few jewels Nonna was able to sew into the hem of her dress.
Settling in Washington—Alberto had studied at Georgetown, and Nonna had studied at the Georgetown Convent of the Visitation—they began their lives again. For Alberto, who, taking a position at Catholic University, pursued an academic career in the United States just as he had in Cuba, much remained the same. But for Nonna, everything was different. Raising her children in a house in suburban Maryland, she had to learn to cook, sew, clean, shop, change diapers, and help with homework. Somehow she managed so well that she found time to attend mass every day, earn an MA in Spanish literature, serve as a constant support to her husband—until he bought his first personal computer, she typed all his papers—and develop a reputation as a talented cook and gracious hostess.
When in 1986 Alberto was named American ambassador to Guatemala, Nonna returned for a few years to the old way of life—a big house to oversee, entertainments to plan—but now she did so as the representative of a country she had come to love, and her dinner parties, at which Guatemalans could meet and talk freely, played an important role in Alberto’s work: helping return Guatemala to democracy.
“There’s not another country in the world,” Alberto often says, “in which I could have done what I did, starting out as an immigrant with nothing and becoming an ambassador. Only in America.”
Yes, but also only with Nonna.
Nonna always remained a grand lady. When my wife insisted she call an ambulance in the middle of the night a few months ago, Nonna replied, “But what shoes would I wear?” Yet she could dispense advice on caring for sick children or dealing with teenagers, provide recipes to anyone who wanted to cook authentic Cuban food, and help her grandchildren write papers on family history. The first third of her life was effortless. She made the next two thirds look effortless.
She loved Cuba and the United States, but she loved her family most. “Well, Peter,” she said once when I complimented her on her five children, “I’m glad you approve. They’re my life’s work.” In declining health in recent years, she made liberal use of the telephone, calling on every birthday, anniversary, and holiday, becoming, for her daughters in particular—the three boys born in Havana were followed by two girls born in this country: in 1961, Edita Maria, my wife, and in 1963, Conchita—the best of friends. My wife wouldn’t have considered her week complete without one or two long talks with her mother, and just three days ago, when Nonna, who had suffered a stroke six weeks before, felt, for a few minutes, strong enough to speak, she and my wife talked, my wife filling her in, as she always did, on the details of family life—the results of one child’s track meet, and of another’s job search, and the music another was practicing on the piano in the background.
Nonna is survived by Alberto, her husband of 60 years, her sister, Lourdes, her five children, their spouses, and her fourteen grandchildren, all of whom, in saying farewell to her during the funeral mass on Tuesday, will do so with the most profound gratitude for Nonna’s life—her quiet and unassuming but utterly magnificent life.
Edita Enriquez de Martinez Piedra, requiescat in pace.
Published in General
And this is the best tribute to her magnificent life, that her family loved her, and appreciated her with profound gratitude. Her story is amazing and inspiring.
I’m so sorry for your loss, may the memories of the magnificent life Nonna brought to all your family bring comfort and peace.
Condolences and prayers, to and for you and yours, Peter!
Peter. What a lovely and moving remembrance.
You say she is survived by, at my count, 28 people.
Reading that account, it’s clear she is survived by so much more and so much deeper.
What a life. What a legacy.
A beautiful tribute, Peter. Thanks.
May God continue to bless your family.
God bless, protect and comfort your family during this time of grief. My sincere condolences, sir.
Oh, my. I feel so deficient. What a remarkable, lovely woman.
God grant her eternal peace, and you and your family consolation at this time, Peter.
My heart is with you and your family, Peter. How lucky your family is to have had such a great lady with such an enormous capacity for love and to have all the enduring memories of her. You have all been blessed. Take care.
Life is loss. The greater the loss, the greater the blessing that preceded it. Condolences, Peter and prayers.
My condolences, god bless her.
What a touching tribute. From what you have said of her I am sure she would have approved.
Thank you for sharing this glimpse of the heart and spirit of a wonderful woman; may you and your family find comfort in the midst of your grief.
I’m sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing this glimpse into an amazing life.
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord.
And let the perpetual light shine upon her.
May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
May God welcome her warmly.
What an amazing person. You are truly blessed to have known her.
What a lady! Neutral Observer and I are sorry for your loss.
This was very touching. Please accept my condolences to you, your wife, and your children as you mourn the loss of an amazing woman.
What a lady and what a life! My condolences Peter.
Viva!
With deep sympathy for the loss to you and your family — thank you for this beautiful tribute.
When my mother-in-law passed two summers ago I was honored to deliver a eulogy. I would tell your children today what I said to my mother-in-law’s seven grandchildren back then:
The monument to her life is not to be built of granite. It will not be erected in ribbons of steel and truck loads of concrete. It has already been built. It is you. It is this family that will carry her well into the future, especially you, her grandchildren.
You just won’t carry her stories into the future, you just won’t have the mementoes of her life, you will carry her in your heart. You will love as she has loved, you will raise families as she has raised hers, you will have it in you to follow in her footsteps and to be the men and women that she has prayed that you would become. This is not the end of your Grandmother. THIS is only a sad moment in what will be a very long and very happy story.
Yes, we grieve this day. But this woman, this remarkable woman will NOT be remembered in sadness. This is a woman who will only be remembered in joy, in generosity and in love.
As someone who lost 3 family members in 6 months last year, I can relate. My condolences to you and your family, Peter. A strong woman who left an amazing legacy. She had much to be proud of to be sure.
May I add my prayers and condolences, Peter.
What a tribute this is, Peter. Thank you for sharing her with us. Such a loss! Those who have known us so long and loved us so well are utterly irreplaceable.
Blessings and condolences to your family, Peter.
A magnificent tribute for an incredible woman. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us.
A study in contrasts.
As it happens, my sister’s 26-year old stepson died in a car accident on Thursday. His death comes after a short life, filled with promise but ended alone, with a momentary misjudgment on a road near I-95.
Then I read this story this morning, a tribute to a life … not only well-lived, but fully-lived … surrounded by loved ones, and ended with nature’s blessing.
Yet, now, both are now the same (we hope), entrusted to the same God.
Funny how this life thing works …
What an incredible and beautiful woman! Thank you, Peter, for sharing what a strong woman your mother-in-law was. She lived life deeply and well.
What a rich legacy your beautiful mother-in-law has left!
How very difficult to let such a lovely person go!
I will offer tonight’s Mass for the repose of her soul and for your family, Peter.
My cousin’s 24 year old son killed himself last week. As KC points out, it is a study in contrasts and heart-breaking. KC, I will pray for your sister’s step-son.
My condolences to your family. Your post was a wonderful tribute to your mother-in-law.
It is difficult to say anything as or more profound than what others have posted here. Please know that your family is in our thoughts and your family’s contribution to the Great American Story is much appreciated.