The concept of family is limited not just to the biological definition, but it can also be built with people who have always been close to us and who love us – and despite not sharing the same genetic heritage as us.
Juan Moreira is an 89-year-old man who, now a widower and childless, has decided to bequeath his company to Deolinda Alfonso, a woman who has worked for him for 40 years. Having started when she was very young, Deolinda has always been an integral part of the Moreira family – so much so that Juan and his wife treated her like their own daughter.
Deolinda was born into a humble family, but starting from the bottom, she managed to get all the way to the top. All this was made possible thanks to the kindness of the Moreira family, and to the devotion she put into her work.
Deolinda Alfonso was born into a humble family and at the age of 12 she had to show up at the Moreira home to work as her parents could not afford to have all seven of her siblings at school.
At the time, the very young Deolinda didn’t know how to do almost anything, but she thought of herself as a handyperson. Mostly, she started out by doing housework and that was how she met Juan and his her wife. The couple – who had no children – soon became like a second family for her: it was with them that she went on vacation for the first time and it was with them that she celebrated her first real birthday.
Today Deolinda is 50 years old and Juan, now elderly and tired, has decided to hand over the business he has been involved in for years to Deolinda. She was an employee of her for 40 years, so who better than she could have been given this honor?
Deolinda has two children and three grandchildren, while Juan has no one but her to call his “family”. Three years after his wife passing away, Juan has decided to retire and take care of himself.
For Deolinda – who knows what it means to live in poverty – it was a great gift she will never forget. On the other hand, she already knew how wonderful Juan and his wife were – for 20 years she had taken care of them and remained especially close to Juan’s wife when it was discovered she had cancer. Given this, Juan and his wife were not at all surprised when Deolinda asked them to be witnesses for her wedding!
This is a beautiful story that teaches us the true meaning of word “family”.
