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How does it feel when your twin sister dies at 93 ? What happens when you are unbeatable, almost eternal, but that half of you, that endearing being that you loved more than yourself leaves in the middle of a nap and without warning? What happens when you can't say goodbye to her because you are in quarantine and any contact with the outside world is a risk?

The answers correspond to Mirtha Legrand, the great diva of Argentine television, the axis of a unique phenomenon, that of those tables of televised lunches and dinners to which any Argentine feels as an enormous honor to be invited. The cycle started in 1968, as Lunching with the Stars , but it soon became Lunch with Mirtha Legrand. And 52 years later it is still there, although its driver, her soul, is at home today crying daily for the death of Silvia, of "Goldy", her twin sister, her unrepeatable half. The program is presented today by her granddaughter, Juana Viale, and it is not known if Mirtha will return.

"Mom, would you like to return to the program?" Marcela Tinayre, her daughter, asked Mirtha Legrand these days. "No, not yet," was the reply of the afflicted Mirtha.

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The coronavirus crisis offers horrifying stories every day, infinitely harsher than Mirtha Legrand's. Goldy did not die of Covid-19, but napping, almost sweetly. But it is harsh that a 93-year-old woman who talked "up to five and six times in an hour" with her sister finds out about the death locked in her apartment, and that when she says that she wants to say goodbye to her, her doctor will give her a " not "resounding.

Spanish origins

José Martínez was a merchant from Almería, and Rosa Martínez, a teacher from Santander. They married in the 1920s, a century ago, in Argentina. The first son was José, who would become a film director. Then the twins arrived. It happened 93 years ago: María Aurelia, whose stage name was Silvia and her nickname Goldy , was born moments before Rosa María Juana, la Chiqui. The twins were figures of Argentine cinema for years until Silvia Legrand decided to go into the background and dedicate herself to her family. All the ground open for Rosa María Juana to consecrate herself as Mirtha Legrand and develop a brilliant career.

Héctor Vidal Rivas, image consultant and great friend of the diva, tried to explain these days what Goldy represented for Mirtha, who spoke to her sister before that nap from which she would never wake up. "The fact of not being able to fire the sister ... The doctor did not leave her under any point of view. She is taking great care of herself, the only contact she had these days is with Elvira, her assistant, nobody enters the She is afraid of everything that is happening. And Goldy died of sadness, because she could never overcome José's death, that was very difficult. "

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With José, Vidal Rivas refers to Mirtha Legrand's older brother. The blow of his death in 2019 was as strong for Mirtha as he suffered in 1994 when his husband, Daniel Tinayre, who was also the producer of his lunches, died. The show was thought to be over, but a theater producer, Carlos Rottemberg, a great friend of the diva, took over the cycle. Five years later, when Mirtha's son Daniel died, lunches stopped being broadcast for a few months.

Goldy died on May 1. The next day, on Saturday night, Mirtha's guest table was in charge of Juana, her granddaughter, a figure widely known in the country. Dressed in black, Juanita Viale spoke with emotion.

"As everyone knows yesterday, my great aunt died, the twin sister of Mrs. Mirtha Legrand. Goldy died . One prepares to carry out this program, but you can never learn to transmit this type of news, especially when you are a person from my family, "she said as she sat at her grandmother's desk, adorned with a closeup where you could see a photo of the sisters smiling.

" Goldy was an actress from the golden age of Argentina, she made great films with her sister. A woman with a lot of memory, very sensitive, very familiar. I am going to send a very big kiss to her daughters, to her grandchildren , her great-grandchildren, and all this little family that we are going to say goodbye to in this very special situation such as the pandemic, "he added.

Rottemberg gave details of how Mirtha Legrand found out about her sister's death: "The phone rang for me and it was Mirtha to tell me that Goldy had died , that her daughter Marcela had just notified her and asked me to come to her house. I I live a block away, so in a matter of minutes I was there. Inside the apartment we all behaved very responsibly and we stayed about five meters away , to respect the prevention measures by the Covid-19. We had a distant but very talk entertaining, we were all in a chinstrap. Mirtha was very sore, of course, but with the strength intact. "

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Within the sadness there was also tension, because Mirtha wanted to go to her sister's funeral, Rottemberg said. "An exchange was generated, which did not come up for discussion, because Mirtha wanted to be present at her sister's funeral. Somehow, I think she called me because she was sure that, with all the pain in my soul, I was going to advise her not to. We explained how important it is that she take care of herself, and in a moment, without her noticing it, I called her personal doctor, Guillermo Semeniuk, who convinced her. "

"I left the department hours later, with a small satisfaction: that of having brought a smile to Mirtha by evoking the phrase that many times she asks me to say: 'Argentines have to ask ourselves what country we are going to leave Mirtha Legrand '".

The phrase also brings smiles to Argentines, who often joke with the diva's immortality. Will he return to television? Time to time, she's hit. You have to listen to Marcela, her daughter: "She has to compose herself as we all have to recompose ourselves. This has been very strong, and the coronavirus also burns your head a little. That and losing a loved one ... the symbiosis that there were between these two twins out there many do not understand it, but we lived it ".

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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