“...Here lies a strong-hearted nobleman,
so wonderfully brave that even Death was unable to triumph...”
Excerpt from Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes
This long, complex epitaph hung framed in the dining room of my childhood, and I came to memorize the words that Miguel de Cervantes wrote to describe the death of Don Quixote of La Mancha. This character, this “sad figure,” was a common sight in every corner of my grandfather’s house, and he repeated the story to me many times. He told me of its beginnings, its origins, the value of chivalry and loyalty, and of putting everything, even life and death, into one’s dreams… but more than anything else, he taught me to never let go of my dreams. My youthful spirit therefore led me to live in Europe and throughout Latin America in a frenetic search for myself. I finally landed in Peru, where I met my wife. We formed an unlikely team, united by a great love and friendship that encouraged our desire to build a life together, beginning with the foundations of our differences and creating new roots and origins of our own. Together we began the beautiful task of forming a family, whose seal should be the connection between the Earth and a belonging to nature, the greatest congruence and genesis of our union.
