This is Pipina. She is the mother of my godmother. In other words she is like my second grandmother. I grew up in a village in the center of the country called Cidreiro. My mother and my godmother became really good friends and I spent many of my younger days chasing chickens, playing with goats, and riding on mule carriages. I have always had the dream of becoming a shepherd. I did all this in the great company of this wonderful lady.
In Vale do Grou, I learned that the simplicity of life is extremely complex because it was in this small rural town that I learned to appreciate all the gifts that have been presented to me in life. Pipina is now ill, and she had asked to see me one last time before her passing. In the United States I had begun a long process of preparation and prayer to be able to see Pipina, even if it were just one more time. This visit was my most important goal of this journey. I was thankful that God kept her alive long enough to be able to hear the words "O meu Pedro," (My Pedro...) and to be able to hold her hand as we talked.
Being back home is wonderful and beautiful as you have hopefully noticed with my previous posts. However, here is my chance to be completely honest with myself and others. It is also extremely challenging and tiring. The pureness that I remembered is still present in every corner of this house. It was exactly the same and the only change was that everyone was extremely happy to see me return. So was I. The only painful moment was when I banged my head on the overhead of the doors. I was certainly not used to having to remember to bend down as I walked those small hallways. Besides that, it was certainly a blessing to be able to return to a place where, 20 years ago, I had napped, played, eaten, cried, and laughed, as a kid.
Both her and I are now at peace with whatever the future has to offer. It was such a relief to see this prayer answered in such a joyous manner.
