Um dia inesquecível! Minha filha se casou ontem, dia 06 de julho de 2019, em Houston, Texas, aos 25 anos, com um ótimo rapaz americano, de 30. Aqui, a celebração civil e a festa têm alguns ritos interessantes e diferentes do que fazemos no Brasil. Com calma, depois, quero escrever sobre isso. Vou deixar hoje aqui registrado apenas o discurso que eu e meu marido escrevemos. Eu o li durante o jantar onde foi a festa (numa bela cervejaria artesanal local). Escrevi-o em português, mas minha cunhada traduziu-o para mim, pois meu inglês não garantiria tamanha correção textual.

Some people say life is a box full of surprises … How could we imagine that little girl who was born of our love would become this independent woman, who would build a new life in a distant country? It is true that João and I have raised our children to the world, traveling as many times as we could. We always told them the greatest lesson is love for life and for the community we live in. We always showed them the value of studying and working hard to pursue our dreams. We’ve always said how important it is to have courage to face the challenges of life. And we did that because we believe we are storytellers of our lives, and we wanted our children to be the protagonists of the stories they dream of, everyday along the way. But we just couldn’t imagine that our little Luiza would go so far, miles away, to build a new world for her, with so many dreams, including a PhD in Psychology and now… surprise, marrying a wonderful boy so far away from our house!

And here we are! Here we are, following her steps. This is the life she chose for herself, with so much work and so much love, step after step, one step after another… There are so many paths, so many choices to make, and, at the end of the day, the most important decision is who you choose to live with, who you choose to share your life, your dreams, your love. Luiza chose Anthony, and Anthony chose Luiza.

When we choose a person to share life and raise a family, we need to adapt to each other, learning so many things in daily basis. Anthony and Luiza were raised in different countries, far away from each other. But they found out they have so much in common that they could build a life together. They found out they have the some values, the believe in love, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They found out that the love they share is the magical way to make their dreams come true.

Luiza has always told us how she felt welcomed in your house, Mike and Mary, and loved a daughter. She told us how she listened the stories of Tony and Sheron, and that you both received her as a grandaughter as well. We are deeply grateful for this! And we know that we love Anthony the some way. He told us he decided his life would be with our Luiza, when he visited us, in our home, in Brazil. So today we have one more son. We realize that this magic has happened because we _ I, João, Mike and Mary _ have two things in common and we know how important they are: the value of the family life and the love for our children.

This is the legacy we have for you both, Anthony and Luiza. It has to do with the memory of the many ways we found to overcome obstacles throughout life, the remembrance of the moments we have forgiven each others mistakes, the days we decided to focus on the best in each other, to put love first and the pursuit of happiness.

We found out the some happened with my parents, who would complete, now in July, 60 years of marriage, if dad were still alive. And so it was with my João’s parents, who lived more than 50 years together. This is how it is with me and João. We are almost 30 years living together. And I see the same with Anthony’s parents and grandparents.

Family life can be wonderful. Sharing life with the person you love is a marvellous adventure. You get to know you partner more and more, you feel more and more loved when you know you can trust someone you love, and you share all those moments of joy and sadness, in health and sickness, taking care of each other, celebrating victories and overcoming defeats. To love each other is to be there one for the other every minute. That’s what we, João and I, learned together, watching our children grow up, become Independent, and still believe love is all we need to be happy.

Therefore, this is our best advice today: feed your love daily, every day, in daily basis. Always be there for each other, always be there to listen, to take care, to respect, to share. Be passionate lovers and, above all, the best friend to one another. That’s the secret to be a happy couple: to love day by day, step by step, respecting the diferences and talking about them to find a common solution to the problems we face. You have to fight hard to keep the some path and not lose each other. Love each other! Forgive each other! Take care of each other! Play with each other! And most important: learn to laugh together, along the way.

Anthony, our daughter is our treasure. Please love her and take care of her. She grew up fast and won the world. She made it with the awareness of her responsibilities and the commitment to her integrity and dignity. So pay attention: we are far away, but in hours we can be here, okay, Anthony?! Take care of our Luiza!

Luiza, we have always said to you that the world is the garden of our house. You are physically distant from us, but we are together in love and we’ll always be here, any time you need. Love passionaly and take care of your husband. He is your family now, the family you have chosen to build. This is a commitment of love and life.

As William Shakespeare once wrote on love:

“My bounty is as boundless as the sea,

My love as deep; the more I give to thee,

The More I have, for both are infinite”

Romeo and Juliet, act 2, scene 2

And that’s why we cry, and laugh, and sing, and dance and celebrate love… As we do today, a very special day, full of emotions. And that’s why we want to say out loud: we are very happy, we love you and bless you.