You are my oldest friend. It all began when I was nine and you were ten, and it’s been fifty years. We met at school, back in the days of wine and roses of the Mozambican era, when we lived in paradise but didn’t know it then; those days when we dreamt of knights and damsels, kings and castles, battles, and bravery; those long, hot summer days when we sat for hours in my swimming pool, just enjoying the moment. …
Category: Friends
We were going for a walk on a Spring afternoon that felt like an early summer, and he told me about his father. He’s such a smiling, carefree person, but as he talked, I saw the sadness in his eyes. He had a happy childhood and early teens. When he was about 17, his father abruptly decided he wanted to divorce his mother. For years he had been having an affair with his personal assistant, and apparently, …
My dear friend I’m on the plane back home and I realize that only a week ago I was arriving, tears of emotion and excitement blurring my vision of your island, my favorite place in the world. And time went by so fast, so damn fast, slipping through my fingers like grains of sand, that I could no more hold in my hands than all those years ago when my holidays in Madeira were a month long, and even …
Friendship is about always supporting each other, but also about having fun together – and making the most of each occasion. Yesterday was a good example of that. As soon as I knew online registration for the Covid 19 vaccination was on for people from 55 on, I called my inseparable friend Beli, and, at the same time – both at our respective homes – we registered for vaccination at the same place, one more advantage …
It was a spring-like day; one of those February days when the sun shines so bright, the sky is incredibly blue, and you feel warm for the first time after so many months. It makes you wonder if spring has come early this year – and you enjoy it. We sat on the balcony of my friend’s charming apartment in an old building of a traditional Lisbon quarter, on a steep street like so many others that go …
Never, as on December 31, do I feel this urge to be in Madeira, my favourite place in the world and the very best place to spend New Year’s Eve. It’s not only the fireworks, but the festive environment as well, the friends, the traditions – all of them contribute to the most unforgettable New Year’s Eve of all. I do have unforgettable memories of this night of all nights in Madeira! I never stop dreaming that one …
Dear Uncle The other day I was revising the first chapters of my book and came up with a scene where the main character, Teresa, has a long talk with her Uncle Jorge, who is so much like you that he can only be one of my favourites. I’ll never forget those talks. In addition to your being great company, with a sense of humour I enjoyed so much, you always had wise words of advice to …
Beli invites me to a weekend at her old country house, where we used to celebrate her birthday almost forty years ago during long weekends of never-ending fun. As we approach the entrance I’m no longer in her boyfriend’s Mercedes but in a white Mini, one of three or four cars heading towards adventure; back then it was an old farm road, winding and narrow, all ups and downs, and we had to drive carefully so as not to …
There are moments that linger in your mind for a long, long time, images so strong that time does not erase them. Two girls sitting outside on a terrace on a late April afternoon that felt like summer, eating an ice cream and celebrating a birthday. I often remember that day. I wonder why I consider it so special. After all, it was not a great party or celebration – just the two of us sitting together as we …
It’s a few minutes before eleven pm. I’m tired. And worried. I think of my son Afonso who’s in hospital, recovering from his second operation – actually by now mostly waiting for the results of the microbiology tests he has underwent to determine what caused the infection in his operation scar. It’s been more than two months since his accident during a rugby match and two since his first operation. It’s been tough on him and we, his parents, are …
