The year was 1971. María Alicia Catalán was young, and in love. Her husband, Victor, a skilled shoemaker, had left El Salvador to seek his fortune in San Francisco, making psychedelic boots at the legendary Rainbow Cobblers on Columbus Avenue in North Beach.
“He was so handsome,” Catalán recalled on a recent rainy Friday afternoon standing outside of Paprika at 24th Street and Osage streets. What could she do but follow him?
Catalán had taught elementary school and worked as a nurse in El Salvador. In San Francisco, she got a job as a teacher’s assistant, in the Mission District, working with young children who spoke Spanish. She then became a nursing assistant at Laguna Honda Hospital, where she stayed for about 25 years.
“It was a great experience,” said Catalán, when asked about her years at the hospital. “You provide your patients with physical and emotional therapy. It is such a good feeling to share your wisdom with others.”
Catalán will turn 88 next month, but, she said, the years have barely changed her. “People age on the outside, but the spirit always stays active and beautiful,” she said in Spanish. Among her favorite activities, then and now: listening to Los Angeles Azules, Orquesta San Vicente and Lito Barrientos y su Orquesta; reading the work of Salvadoran poet Alfredo Espino; eating rice with vegetables and beef; and writing poetry.
““Me? I love writing. I love writing poetry. It is one of my favorite hobbies,” said Catalán. “I read my poems to my children, just listen.” She proceeded to recite “Me gusta cuando llueve,” standing, at this point, outside of Café La Bohéme, umbrella in hand.
“Me gusta la lluvia por que todo esta en calma
Me gusta cuando llueve por que siento los deseos intensos de volver a soñar
A soñar con mi abuela que me quería tanto y que me daba besos …”
“I like it when it rains because everything is calm
I like it when it rains because I feel intense wishes to dream again
To dream with my grandma, who kissed me and loved me so much.”
“When you write, you elevate yourself. You go far away, to a celestial orbit,” she said.
When asked what advice she had for anyone reading this article, she didn’t hesitate.
“You know who gets mad when one doesn’t read? Your brain,” Catalán said. “The brain eats from wisdom, from reading good books and listening to good music.”
And, she said, enjoy each moment.
“I’m this age and I can tell you that I adore every moment of my life because that’s what my grandparents taught me,” she said, adding for good measure: “Don’t waste your time, study … Life is beautiful and you have to take advantage of it.”
On a recent Friday afternoon, Catalán was living her own advice — walking along 24th Street, enjoying the rain.
Catalán’s husband died several years ago. But there’s not a day that she doesn’t think of him and the “beautiful life” they built, she said. The two had seven children, more than 16 grandchildren and a few great grandchildren.
“He was and is the love of my life,” said Catalán, tearing up a little. Then she began to sing, and explained: “I also write music. This one is dedicated to my husband.”
“Cada vez que yo miro a la luna, yo siento tus besos llenitos de amor
Yo siento que me acaricias, que me acaricias con loca pasión
Cada vez que yo miro a la una, yo siento tus besos aquí en mi regazo
Y yo siento que tu, que tu me acaricias, que tu me acaricias pedazo a pedazo…”
“Every time I look at the moon I feel your kisses full of love
I feel like you’re touching me, like you’re touching me with crazy passion
Every time I look at the moon I feel your kisses, here in my lap
I feel like you, that you touch me, that you touch me bit by bit .”