Timeline for Mate

Maria Teresa – Mate

Born: October 15, 1935

1943
• Age 8, she wishes to be just like her older sister Minerva. She wants to be a lawyer too
1945
• She begins to keep a journal, which extends to 1946
• She is very protective of her diary
• She has her First Communion and has brand new shoes that her mother bought for her.
• Her father does not show up to her First Communion because he has to take care of the work with the “cacao harvest”(is actually busy with his second family)
• She is still very innocent and materialistic at this point
• She and Minerva are sent off to boarding school for three months and this was very important for Mate because she was able to grow and mature while being away from her family
• This separation from her family helps her to face reality
• Witnesses the ordeal with Minerva and the man on the train→ finding her own sexuality as a growing girl but still she doesn’t fully understand it yet
1946
• She is called to the principal’s office and it is about Minerva’s sneaking off so go visit their “sick uncle”→ this is the beginning of Mate losing her innocence since she is finally seeing the world for what it is
• She begins to talk back to Minerva and stand up for herself which is important
• She now has a different outlook on their president who is always watching them in their home and now has the suspicion of being watched by spies

1953
• She attends Papa’s funeral