Barely three months have passed since Luis Palacios' enormous house in Santa Fe was filled with tantrums, laughter, and toys;
and routine became part of the past.
Eliana and Elisa had been chosen to take
care of six little Corrientes siblings
who now formally became their children because a judge granted them full adoption.
In just three months there were birthdays, unforgettable afternoons at the pool, games, jealousy,
like in any family
.
But for Juliana (10), Alejandra (8), Noelia (6), Cristian (5), Jeremías (4) and Camila (3) everything was different because after a long time they felt again what it means to have a home, of to feel loved and protected, to
be together again, the six of them
, as they had asked the Family, Childhood and Adolescence judge Carolina Macarrein.
This Monday, the eight returned to the city of Corrientes in the family car, the one they bought when they first registered for the national call in July of last year.
And it was to stamp “the most important signature of our lives”
on the file
.
The thing is that now they are definitely the mothers of the six little brothers.
“There were two very complicated moments: the first when our daughters cried because they thought we were going to Corrientes to leave them;
and the other was just after arriving at our house because the younger ones were fighting non-stop and hitting each other,” they revealed.
The solution came with an extensive talk.
“We talked to them for two hours sitting around the table and they never treated each other that way again,” the two young women revealed.
Summer was the time when Eliana and Elisa had to adjust to large family life.
And now, with the return of classes, the challenges returned: from getting the backpack to the supplies for the eight of them.
Ready for school.
The six little brothers started the school year with their new family, in Santa Fe.
“Cami and Jere, super happy in their garden.
Cristian started first grade, which meant a big change;
and Agustina, Lucia and Giuliana were nervous but happy” about starting at a new school, they revealed.
Both were happy because “the school supports them a lot” and there was a thank you to the mothers “who do a lot so that we can get to all the meetings and activities.”
Returning to school was also a significant change in the lives of the new mothers.
“We get up much earlier, and it is (preparing) breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner for eight;
pack six backpacks and
cool six plates in the fan
, because blowing them is impossible,” they happily list the new home occupations.
“Bathing them is quite an odyssey and we do it
in turns
...Life has changed us completely, but in the most beautiful way,” Eliana and Elisa are excited.
Both are aware that these six little brothers come from a
complex family situation
, with material and emotional deprivation.
That is why their main wish is for them to regain their smile.
“We want them to be happy children so that tomorrow they can be good people who can teach others that with love everything is possible.”
The family after formalizing the procedure in Corrientes.
Eliana and Elisa met more than two decades ago in Argentina but the former emigrated to Galicia to live with her grandmother.
The friendship remained at a distance and he decided to invite Elisa to spend a vacation in Spain.
Love did not take long to emerge and since April 2005 they have never been separated again.
In 2010
they got married in Spain
and five years later they returned to Luis Palacios, where they ratified their union again in July 2019. They own two hair salons, one in the town and the other in Rosario;
But Eliana has also worked since last year in a cistern tank factory.
The adoption decision
The two had already decided to adopt children and were awaiting calls throughout the country.
On July 13, Eliana saw a note from a Corrientes radio station on social media about the call.
Around 2:00, when her partner was already asleep, she sent the email to the Court.
“It wasn't until the morning that I told Elisa,” she recalled.
“The Court was in session but they immediately sent us the forms to sign up.
In August they contacted us again and told us that there were more than 30 applicants.
I said, bye, they discard us here,” he said.
When the dream of a huge family was still a distant hope, Eliana began looking for a car thinking about the six little brothers from Corrientes.
“As soon as we signed up and without knowing what was going to happen, I bought an eight-seater Peugeot 807, thinking about them.
The next day they notified us of the first hearing in Court,” she told
Clarín
last year.
Both fervently believe that the entire journey was not a coincidence.
In September they had interviews with the judge and the interdisciplinary team of the Judiciary through video calls and they only had to wait and see if they could achieve their dream of having a house full of little voices.
The couple needed just five days to bond with the six little brothers.
It was love at first sight that increased as the days went by.
And in December came the custody for adoption purposes and the return to Luis Palacios, where they began to write the new chapters of a story that seems taken from a storybook.
Missions. Correspondent
P.S.