Page 21 - Livro_Inglês

José Paulo – Ideal Decision José Paulo – Ideal Decision

Lázara Santos and Augusto Zanetti, 19 years old young people, They got married and came to Sao Paulo, then the opportunity
did not admit doing anything apart, such was the couple’s com- presented itself for my uncles to try and have a new life in this land
plicity and friendship, besides their focus on the job to maintain of opportunities as well. One of my uncles got a job in a big trac-
their home. Soon enough, my grandparent’s home was filled with tor’s company and also got jobs for his brothers there; practically
joy and the first daughter to be born was my beloved mother, all the family’s revenue came from the work in this company, and
Cleusa, who for many years was the family’s right arm. She divided they were all grateful for this opportunity
her childhood between the work in the crops, taking care of her Whenever there were typical festivities in the company, there
brothers and the time she got left, with studies. was our entire family, after all, everybody worked there. I went

My mother always told me that hard work kept a home full of to this company’s parties and what amazed me the most were the
people, that they were my grandparents and their twelve children, huge machines, not to mention the treats they served at the parties.
two of them, adopted. When every kid was six years old, they star- All jokes aside, when I was 12 years old, I decided I was going to
ted working with my grandfather in the farm, whilst my grandmo- work there too.
ther took care of the house. They did not even had shoes, but they If there is a phrase I always quote is “decision decides fates”,
had the will, determination, and happiness.
and there was a decided boy. Even as a child, to me, nothing could
My grandfather, a kind hearted man, leased his farm to help a be done in any which way, if I had to work for that company, it
person in need with the money, but unfortunately this person did had to be in the best way possible. So, I managed to study at Liceu
not pay him back and the whole family was left without a home or de Artes e Ofícios (loosely translated as High School of Arts and
a land to work on. However, as I have said before, determination Crafts) and kept focused on my objective, which was to work at the
and faith were the fuel of this family, which was welcomed by a tractor’s company.
couple from the region, and they did not give up. Soon there I was as the family’s mascot, working in the same
Little did they know what was about to happen on April 17th, company; now I was no longer invited to the parties, I was a part
1971, a fatality would claim my grandfather’s life. At that time of everything just as I decided and planned. I am sure the deter-
the whole city was moved, the family continued together, once mination and faith from my grandparents follow me to this day.
more faith and determination prevailed and my dear grandmother But before I finish this chapter, I cannot fail to mention my
Lázara, pregnant with her youngest daughter, took charge of the paternal grandfather, Júlio Pereira da Cruz, upright, hardworking,
situation and kept them all together and with the same objective, and kindhearted man, he was a military in the Northeast and
which was to have a life with a lot of work and integrity.
worked as a well-digger. Think about the challenge it was to dig a
Years came by and the moment has come for my mother to well in people’s houses in the 50s, which was a common thing back
start her own family when she met my beloved father, José Pereira, then. Not everyone knows how to do it, but that was the only form
police officer, upright man, disciplined, strict, but very protective. of water extraction in some places. My grandfather, even though

20 21