May 20, 2024 • 29 mins
Wine is made from grape must, which undergoes a natural fermentation process through the action of yeasts that transform the sugar present in the grape into alcohol and carbon dioxide. When there's no more sugar in the liquid, the yeasts die and the fermentation ends. So the grape came into this world to either be eaten or to be turned into wine. If it's eaten, well, its mission on earth is over. But if it's turned into wine, its life will be prolonged for many, many years, and in the best cases, for centuries. This transformation is a very tough process for a grape. And you'll soon understand what I'm trying to say here. The process of turning grapes into wine involves harvesting the grapes, or "vindima," (as we say in Portuguese) at the right time. It cannot be too early or too late. Then, the way they are transported is crucial to prevent them from being bruised or crushed. Otherwise, the next stage, fermentation, might start prematurely. But before fermentation, the grapes are crushed. After that, they move on to the fermentation stage. Alcoholic fermentation occurs when microorganisms called yeasts transform sugars into ethanol (alcohol), energy (heat), and gas, along with secondary products. This process happens differently for red and white wines. Once fermentation is complete, the filtration process begins. The goal of this phase is to separate the solid phase in suspension from the liquid phase by passing through a porous surface that constitutes the filtering layer, intended to retain solid particles. Finally, there is the aging and bottling of the wine. Here is the wine. If we translate this to my life, let's say I am in the final stage of fermentation. In other words, I am transforming my sugars (ghosts) into alcohol (my second life). The same processes the grape undergoes happened to our heroine today. Her name is Cristina, a widow, with three children, who turned the loss of her husband 30 years ago into something wonderful. Just like wine. But like the grape before turning into wine, Cristina went through hell and back. Today, the hero’s cape will be worn by a woman: Cristina, sweet like the Portuguese wine Casa Ermelinda Freitas Trincadeira Reserva Tinto. Absolutely fantastic!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:14):
Who doesn't like to have a goodglass of wine. I mean, there
must be people who don't, butthat's not a problem. I love it
all around. In winter when theweather is cooler, yes, because here
in Madea it doesn't get cold.I love to drink a glass of red
(00:36):
wine at this time of year,between spring and autumn, I enjoy a
glass of white or roset wine.And if I'm eating a fish dish,
hm, even better. It's thecherry on top, like we say here
in the day, or rather it'sa sinful pleasure onto which I belong and
(00:57):
which I love. We all knowthe origin of wine. That is the
fruit that gives rice to wine.That's right. The grape wine is made
from grape musts, which undergoes anatural fermentation process through the action of yeasts
that transform the sugar present in thegrape into alcohol and carbon diox When there's
(01:23):
no more sugar in the liquid,the yests dies and the fermentation ends.
So the grape came into this worldto either be eaten or to be turned
into wine. If it's eaten,well it's Mission Unearth. It's over.
But if it's turned into wine,its life will be prolonged. For many,
(01:44):
many years, and in the bestcases for centuries. This transformation is
a very tough process for the grapeand you will understand what I'm trying to
say here. The process of turninggrapes into wine. Harvesting the grapes or
vindema as we say in Portuguese,at the right time. It cannot be
(02:07):
too early or too late. Thenthe way they are transported is crucial to
prevent them from being bruised or crushed. Otherwise the next stage, fermentation might
start permitorily, but before fermentation thegrapes are crushed. After that they move
(02:28):
on to the fermentation stage. Alcoholicfermentation occurs when microorganism called yeasts transforms sugars
into ethanol, alcohol, energy,heat, and gas along with secondary products.
This process happens differently for red andwhite wines. Once fermentation is complete,
(02:52):
the filtration process begins. The goalof these phase is to separate the
solid phase in suspension from the leecould face by passing through apirus surface that
consists the filtering layer intend to retainsolid particles. Finally, there is the
aging and bottling the wine. Here'sthe wine. If you translate this to
(03:15):
my life, let's say I amin the final states of fermentation or in
In other words, I'm transforming mysugars let me say, ghosts into alcohol
my second life. The same processthe grape undergoes happen to our heroin today.
(03:35):
Her name is Christina, a widowwith three children who turned the loss
of her husband thirty years ago intosomething beautiful, just like wine. But
like the grape. Before turning intowine, Christina went through hell and back.
Today heroes cape will be worn tobe worn by a woman Christina sweet
(03:59):
like Portuguese Winease Irmlinda freitiszervetent go andtranslate that in Google. I can assure
you it's absolutely fantastic. This isthe David and Goliath podcast, and I
will tell you real stories from normalpeople who had great, mighty wars and
(04:20):
defeated their giants. In two thousandand four, Christina had been married to
Alfredo for almost thirty years. Fromthis marriage, three boys were born.
Christina always wanted a girl, butas always, God had other plans for
her. That year, the twoeldest were already working, having completed their
(04:46):
courses at the university, while theyoungest was still half away through his lectures
course. In Porto. We areall the result of love. We are
born because there was, and forsome there still is love between our parents.
But in the case of this couple, love was something deeper. It
(05:10):
was as if we were talking abouttwo gods who fell madly in love fifty
years ago and by their own freewill, combined with the divine destiny,
decided to join their lives together.At the time, Christina was an art
history teacher at the school here Infanchale, and in her free time she painted.
(05:34):
Christina had and has many superpowers,but the one that stood out the
most was painting and writing poems.Christina told me that she had many suitors,
not only because she was very beautiful, but also because she was very
elegant. Who doesn't like an elegantwoman. But what made of Fredo fall
(06:00):
in love with her was that theway of seeing life which only poets and
painters can have. Alfredo worked atthe government office. He worked specifically at
in the finance department. Christina toldme that Alfredo has always been a very
rational person. Everything in life thathad to have logic in his mind then,
(06:26):
and when there was no logic,he turned to his wife for advice
and sometimes a path to solve hisdilemmas. It seems that through Christina,
Alfredo and consciously sought some divine guidance, something that in his conscience mind was
impossible to achieve. In turn,when Christina wanted to come back down to
(06:48):
earth and leave her wonderland, sheasked him Alfredo, for help to grant
her The way Christina spoke about him, the love that shared for each other
seemingly truly remarkable. And why Iam saying this? Every now and then
at night or when they went intothe countryside for romantic evening, Christina would
(07:13):
read her poems to her beloved.She told me that she could see the
peace, happiness and love in herhusband's eyes when she read her poems,
or when Alfred gazed at her paintingshe turned. He in turn would make
me laugh, said Christina. Youcould say the biggest swear word in existence,
(07:36):
but the way he said it makeme laugh really loud. I think
this is what is called living forone another. They serve each other in
a more romantic sense. They weremade for each other. In that year
two thousand and four, Alfredo startedto feel very tired and weak, so
(08:00):
worn out even telling a joke whichwas so charaistic of him became difficult.
He sought help and went to thedoctor. The doctor ordered a series of
tests to find out what was goingon. After a week, the results
came back one of these kidneys wasnot functioning and he had to go to
(08:20):
the hospital urgently, and so itwas done. They rushed to the hospital.
Upon her arrival at the emergency department, another series of tests was conducted
to find out what's really happening.They're going to prin me again. I'm
fed up being pricked, Christina rememberedher husband saying when they first arrived at
(08:41):
the emergency department. Three hours aftertheir arrival at the hospital, the news
came, or rather the bomb.Missus Christina, your husband has blood cancer,
in other words, leukemia, thedoctor stated. Boom, A punch
to the stomach that left me breathless, she said to me. The doctor
(09:05):
continued with the news, pointing tothe sheet with the test results and said,
with a very worthy expression, itneeds to be admitted so that we
can instabilize all the parameters and subsequentlytreat your husband. My god, it
felt as if the ground has beenpulled from under my feet. Kustena said,
(09:31):
but let whatever needs to be donebe done, and so it was.
Alfred was taken to a special wardin the hospital. They gave her
the bag with some Alfred's belongings,and off she went, leaving her beloved
behind. Christina recounts that it wasraining heavily that night. She parked the
(09:58):
car in the parking lots and madeher way home. The street was desert,
a stark contrast to the daytime frenzyof cars, pollution, noise,
and people so typically on any cityworldwide. The only people around were the
(10:18):
prostitutes, like she said, theneighbors of the couple who were made for
each other over the past few years, and Christina half away home. She
couldn't take it anymore. She stopped, put her hands on her face and
cried, as if she wanted noone to see the color of the tears
(10:39):
streaming down her face. After afew minutes, she wiped her tears,
lifted her head, and using allher strength, she tried to think rationally.
Cancer. She thought, how arewe going to deal with this?
How was this possible? Suddenly sheremembered that she had to tell her children
(11:03):
the news. She called them deliveringthe bombshell. She recalls, I don't
know how I didn't cry while I'mtelling them, but I said everything.
Then I hung up and went tobed. The next morning she went to
the hospital to visit him and findout what was happening. Alfredo was better,
(11:26):
but still weak. It's in thesemoments that we feel powerless. We
can't do anything, Christina told me. That's why I remember that I could
read him my poems, which heloved so much, and so I did.
She recalls that very evening, duringvisiting hours, I brought my poems.
(11:48):
He owes almost as asleep at thetime of the day, so I
started reading them softly in his ear. Christina remembers with a smile. I
did this every day for two weeks, especially in the evenings. This,
along with the treatments he was undergoing, seemed to have the desired effect,
(12:09):
she said. This was confirmed dayslater when the first results showed in his
levels. Stabili selling and my lovewas becoming himself again, so much so
that he started joking again in goodspirits, she said with a laugh.
At that point, Alfred was readyto start chemotherapy, and Christina continued a
(12:35):
routine of reading him her poems.I never missed a single day. I
was always there. I felt mild. I felt like my mission on Earth.
The first treatment went well and managedto clear many cancer cells, but
a section of chemotherapy clears both cancerousand healthy cells. Every now and then
(13:01):
Alfredo would be really dumb. Duringthose times, Christino would reinforce her reading
of the poems, always intending tohelp fight her husband illness. Sometimes accepted.
Other times he told her to bequiet, and she told me.
But even when he told me tobe quiet, I continue. I continued
(13:24):
more softly, but it didn't stop. I always returned home with the true
conviction that I was helping him.She continued to recall, In fact I
latter discuss I later discovered that everyoneloved hearing my poems. The medical and
nursing staff loved to listen. Timeseemed to stop at those moments. Then
(13:48):
came the second treatment on a Saturdaymorning. Knowing that, like the first
time, Alfredo might felt down,Christina increased the dose of the poems.
She even took photos of the paintingshe liked the most. On Saturday afternoon,
she went there, a flowed aroutine and achieved the expected result,
(14:13):
boosting the morale of her warrior husband. She said, I was so convident
that I would be able to curehim of that disease. She returned the
following Sunday, but this time alfredawas very apathic, and like any thing
(14:33):
seen before, he seemed to beto giving up. Christina remembers, with
a tear rolling down her face.She read more poems than usual, but
after Alfredo seemed to be in anotherworld. All the signs in the universe
were sending me were evident, butyou know, when you are focusing on
(14:56):
one thing, it seems you ignorethe obvious that he was dying and had
given up. She called me recountsthis memory to me the next day Alfred,
who died at that moment, Ifelt I had lost my love forever,
recalls Christina. The story of Alfridaand Christina remind me of the myth
(15:26):
of Ortheus and Euridis or FEUs playedthe leer and was an excellent poet.
Whenever he played and sang nature andpeople were captivated by his music. It
was his superpower let me sell likethat. He fell male in love with
Euridis. One day she was bya river when she was bitten by a
(15:52):
snake, leading to her death.Or FEUs was desperate and heartbroken. He
went to the underworld with his musicand lyrics to rescue Euydis. His sorrowful
song convinced the fairy man Karen totake him to the underworld with his music.
(16:15):
Is also loaded asleep, the threeheaded dog that guarded the interest.
When our Fields arrived in the underworld, he came to face with Hades,
the god of the underworld, andPersephon, his wife. Heads was very
upset with the presence of a livingperson in this real but Persephon, calming
(16:38):
down of heels, then explained whyhe was there. Hads wife felt pitied
for Fields, feeling connected to hispain, and thus persuaded the god.
Being a just god, Hades agreed, but with one condition of Fields would
(17:00):
lead the way or for you readit, but he must never look back
until they had both reached the worldof the living. Until they were in
the light of FEUs agreeted and ledthe way. He climbed the step path,
singing with his leer until he reachedthe top. As he was in
(17:22):
front, he was the first toreceive the rays of the sun, so
it was natural for him to lookback to see his beloved to check if
she had arrived safely. But heforgot that being ahead, she might still
be on her way to the light, still exiting the world of the dead.
(17:45):
And this is what happened of FIUslooked back and he read it was
still emerging from the darkness. Thushe broke the pact he mad he made
with heads. He read it turninto a ghost and return to the underworld.
Or Fears was devastated and vowed neverto love another woman in this world.
(18:10):
We can draw various lessons from thismyth. In a very similarst form,
we can state the following. Firstly, true love will do anything for
its beloved. It will do itwill go to the ends of the earth
to save them. When we chooseto love, all gods and fears are
cast aside, and nothing in thisworld can stop us. Secondly, through
(18:37):
our gifts and talents, we canachieve anything. We can make this world
a better place and help those aroundus, even save our beloved ones.
Thirdly, and last a lack offaith is detrimental to us. In other
words, self sabotage is something thatruins and disgrace us. This is what
(19:00):
happened, Orpheus did when he lookedback. Can you see the similarities between
ALFREDA and Christina and this myth?Not only this couple, but also in
our everyday lives. After Alfred's death, I went straight to my own ail
(19:21):
with Christina recalls. Christina turned topay the bills and support her youngest son,
so until he finished his course.That was my focus. To ensure
Miguel finished his course. She toldme, with her typical determination, I
succeeded. The problem came afterwards.Afterwards I crashed suddenly. I felt an
(19:47):
immense sadness within me. At firstI made a huge effort to get out
of bed and go to work,but I couldn't take it anymore. So
I went to see a doctor.Just felt like crying. They told me
I had a nervous depression, orrather a burnout. They prescribed me some
(20:07):
pills. The doctor told talk tome, but it's as if I wasn't
even in the room listening to him. I don't remember anything he said.
My mind was elsewhere. Right after, I went on sick leave home and
went home. Christina spent the dayin bed. She felt nothing but immense
(20:32):
sadness on her chest, a despair. She didn't know where it came from.
She turned off the phone, closedthe windows, and allowed herself to
be with her sadness despair. Thiswent on for months. She whispers,
as if there were a secrets,and told me, just the simple fact
(20:56):
of having to get up made mecry. My old body was numb.
Days without getting out of bed,without even taking a shower, A profound
apathy and numbness towards everything. Ispent a longer time like this. I
(21:18):
cried so much during those months.I couldn't figure out what was happening until
one day. Until one day,she was sleeping in her bed and dreamt
of Alfredo and the times they wentto the countryside to date, and she
would read poems to her beloved,to her or feels. She dreamt of
(21:41):
his smile during the loud readings inthe fields here on the countryside of the
island. She dreamt of his eyesshowing how much he loved her. In
those times, she dreamt of thehappiness she had at that time. She
told me, Suddenly I woke up, and I looked around the room where
(22:02):
I was, the same room asyears ago share with him. I reached
out to the side where he usedto sleep and found myself crying again.
It was then that I discovered whyI was crying. I hadn't accepted his
death. I cried for several daysin a row, first for his death
(22:25):
and all the proses surrounding it,second for being alone and scared, and
then because I had no idea whatI could do well with my life.
Slowly, Christine Fears began to turninto carriage, courage to move forward with
her life with that she loved andknew how to do, which was writing
(22:48):
and painting. After some time ofsolitary meditation, she decided to go to
a psychologist to help her find herway. After many sessions, many many
sessions, She's found many ghosts.She revolved, She resolved them, and
at the same time found strength tocontinue with her life. She didn't want
(23:12):
to talk about these ghosts, butI presume they must have been associated with
her husband. I think she wentback to the school where she taught.
She founded a reading and poetry clubfor young adults at that school, not
aldults, young boys and girls.Her love for this heart is so great
(23:37):
that she managed to captivate her students. With his love, it seemed like
she had a leer, and withit she enchanted everyone around her. You
really have to be an excellent leaderplayer to convince young people to like poetry.
I say, she started painting again, and he's thinking of writing a
(23:59):
book of poetry. Today. Sheis the grandmother and loves being alive.
Of course, she still feels devoidof Alfredo's absence, but it's true this
that she transforms that feeling of emptinessinto heart, and like Ortheus, she
starts to love again, not anotherman but life itself. Lor Orpheus,
(24:23):
who had looked back and swept herhusband's death under the rug, only accepting
it when she was down there inthe underworld trying to rescue Alfredo with her
poems. There isn't a single daythat I don't remember him. There isn't
a single day that I don't writeabout him, and about how our world
(24:45):
was not only to remember, butfundamentally to bring the world the beauty I
have to convey. She concluded ourconversation. In this way, I went
to hell and back, and believeme, Francisco, every bird was worth
it. I shouldn't be here talkingto you. If it were up to
(25:12):
my whims, I have been deada year ago. I should have grabbed
a bottle of pills and swallowed themall to d resolve to sleep without feeling
any pain, much better than allthe other suicide options, which naturally involved
pain. I couldn't bear my painanymore. Or if I were a priest
(25:37):
my cross. Just like Orpheus whohad the gifts for playing his lear I
have my own gifts. And justlike Orpheus, who liked back when he
reached the surface to check if hisbeloved was coming, I also threw everything
away. I spent so long blamingmyself for everything I had done wrong.
(26:00):
I spent so long feeling ashamed ofwhat I had become. How could I
have reached this point, I says, spend time just like Christina, curl
up in bed, feeling numb allover my body. I know very well
what Christina felt during her nervous breakdown, But just like her, I managed
(26:23):
to get out of bed, justlike her, to transform anger, shame,
and guilt into courage and action.Courage to face my demons, my
ghosts, my goliath. Courage touse our lyric to rise again. To
help ourselves and to help those aroundus, to leave this world better than
(26:47):
we were arrived. This world istoo dark to continue like this. Did
I want to go through what Iwent through? No? I never wanted
or imagined it. If it werepossible to raise all my riscent past,
would I never? Ever? LikeChristina, I went to Helen back.
(27:11):
Well, I guess I haven't completelycome out of there, but yes,
there are lights at the end ofthe tunnel. Let me see like this,
I left behind the old Francisco,the Franciscu was afraid of everything,
even his own shadow. I leftbehind Francisco, who was ashamed of his
himself and how much shame I hadfor what I thought and believed. I
(27:37):
left behind Franciscu, who was toblame for the sky being gray or blue.
I carry all the blames on hisshoulders. I only managined to forgive
myself not long ago. But itwas a very painful process. But I
did it many times. I cried, justly like Christina cried that night,
(28:00):
coming after leaving her love in thehospital. The grape was born to be
transformed into wine and live a lifethat otherwise would have a very short time.
Like I said at the beginning ofthis episode, the grape to become
wine must be crushed, to becomethe nectar of gods. I absolutely sure
(28:26):
that Christina Grapes is producing a beautifuland tasty wine. Confusius once said,
we all have two lives. Thesecond one starts when we realize we have
only one. I'm sure my wine, just like Christina, is undoubtedly a
(28:48):
wonderful Portuguese wine. Caze Irm LindaFretch trinked reservatint go to the Google and
translate. Doesn't matter where you start, it matters where you finish. That
most people who I have met inlife who did exceptional things, it was
(29:10):
always a comeback from exceptional crushings.Grapes are the only fruit that's raised to
be crushed, not to be protected, because in the process of crushing the
grape, it finally comes to itsultimate purpose becoming wine and last ten twenty
hundreds of years. If it hadnot been crushed, it would not have
survived. And the things that driveyou to be successful, that make you
(29:34):
work harder, that make you studyharder, that make you do more than
other people do, are often rootedin what you are running from, not
what you're running,
Who doesn't like to have a goodglass of wine. I mean, there
must be people who don't, butthat's not a problem. I love it
all around. In winter when theweather is cooler, yes, because here
in Madea it doesn't get cold.I love to drink a glass of red
(00:36):
wine at this time of year,between spring and autumn, I enjoy a
glass of white or roset wine.And if I'm eating a fish dish,
hm, even better. It's thecherry on top, like we say here
in the day, or rather it'sa sinful pleasure onto which I belong and
(00:57):
which I love. We all knowthe origin of wine. That is the
fruit that gives rice to wine.That's right. The grape wine is made
from grape musts, which undergoes anatural fermentation process through the action of yeasts
that transform the sugar present in thegrape into alcohol and carbon diox When there's
(01:23):
no more sugar in the liquid,the yests dies and the fermentation ends.
So the grape came into this worldto either be eaten or to be turned
into wine. If it's eaten,well it's Mission Unearth. It's over.
But if it's turned into wine,its life will be prolonged. For many,
(01:44):
many years, and in the bestcases for centuries. This transformation is
a very tough process for the grapeand you will understand what I'm trying to
say here. The process of turninggrapes into wine. Harvesting the grapes or
vindema as we say in Portuguese,at the right time. It cannot be
(02:07):
too early or too late. Thenthe way they are transported is crucial to
prevent them from being bruised or crushed. Otherwise the next stage, fermentation might
start permitorily, but before fermentation thegrapes are crushed. After that they move
(02:28):
on to the fermentation stage. Alcoholicfermentation occurs when microorganism called yeasts transforms sugars
into ethanol, alcohol, energy,heat, and gas along with secondary products.
This process happens differently for red andwhite wines. Once fermentation is complete,
(02:52):
the filtration process begins. The goalof these phase is to separate the
solid phase in suspension from the leecould face by passing through apirus surface that
consists the filtering layer intend to retainsolid particles. Finally, there is the
aging and bottling the wine. Here'sthe wine. If you translate this to
(03:15):
my life, let's say I amin the final states of fermentation or in
In other words, I'm transforming mysugars let me say, ghosts into alcohol
my second life. The same processthe grape undergoes happen to our heroin today.
(03:35):
Her name is Christina, a widowwith three children who turned the loss
of her husband thirty years ago intosomething beautiful, just like wine. But
like the grape. Before turning intowine, Christina went through hell and back.
Today heroes cape will be worn tobe worn by a woman Christina sweet
(03:59):
like Portuguese Winease Irmlinda freitiszervetent go andtranslate that in Google. I can assure
you it's absolutely fantastic. This isthe David and Goliath podcast, and I
will tell you real stories from normalpeople who had great, mighty wars and
(04:20):
defeated their giants. In two thousandand four, Christina had been married to
Alfredo for almost thirty years. Fromthis marriage, three boys were born.
Christina always wanted a girl, butas always, God had other plans for
her. That year, the twoeldest were already working, having completed their
(04:46):
courses at the university, while theyoungest was still half away through his lectures
course. In Porto. We areall the result of love. We are
born because there was, and forsome there still is love between our parents.
But in the case of this couple, love was something deeper. It
(05:10):
was as if we were talking abouttwo gods who fell madly in love fifty
years ago and by their own freewill, combined with the divine destiny,
decided to join their lives together.At the time, Christina was an art
history teacher at the school here Infanchale, and in her free time she painted.
(05:34):
Christina had and has many superpowers,but the one that stood out the
most was painting and writing poems.Christina told me that she had many suitors,
not only because she was very beautiful, but also because she was very
elegant. Who doesn't like an elegantwoman. But what made of Fredo fall
(06:00):
in love with her was that theway of seeing life which only poets and
painters can have. Alfredo worked atthe government office. He worked specifically at
in the finance department. Christina toldme that Alfredo has always been a very
rational person. Everything in life thathad to have logic in his mind then,
(06:26):
and when there was no logic,he turned to his wife for advice
and sometimes a path to solve hisdilemmas. It seems that through Christina,
Alfredo and consciously sought some divine guidance, something that in his conscience mind was
impossible to achieve. In turn,when Christina wanted to come back down to
(06:48):
earth and leave her wonderland, sheasked him Alfredo, for help to grant
her The way Christina spoke about him, the love that shared for each other
seemingly truly remarkable. And why Iam saying this? Every now and then
at night or when they went intothe countryside for romantic evening, Christina would
(07:13):
read her poems to her beloved.She told me that she could see the
peace, happiness and love in herhusband's eyes when she read her poems,
or when Alfred gazed at her paintingshe turned. He in turn would make
me laugh, said Christina. Youcould say the biggest swear word in existence,
(07:36):
but the way he said it makeme laugh really loud. I think
this is what is called living forone another. They serve each other in
a more romantic sense. They weremade for each other. In that year
two thousand and four, Alfredo startedto feel very tired and weak, so
(08:00):
worn out even telling a joke whichwas so charaistic of him became difficult.
He sought help and went to thedoctor. The doctor ordered a series of
tests to find out what was goingon. After a week, the results
came back one of these kidneys wasnot functioning and he had to go to
(08:20):
the hospital urgently, and so itwas done. They rushed to the hospital.
Upon her arrival at the emergency department, another series of tests was conducted
to find out what's really happening.They're going to prin me again. I'm
fed up being pricked, Christina rememberedher husband saying when they first arrived at
(08:41):
the emergency department. Three hours aftertheir arrival at the hospital, the news
came, or rather the bomb.Missus Christina, your husband has blood cancer,
in other words, leukemia, thedoctor stated. Boom, A punch
to the stomach that left me breathless, she said to me. The doctor
(09:05):
continued with the news, pointing tothe sheet with the test results and said,
with a very worthy expression, itneeds to be admitted so that we
can instabilize all the parameters and subsequentlytreat your husband. My god, it
felt as if the ground has beenpulled from under my feet. Kustena said,
(09:31):
but let whatever needs to be donebe done, and so it was.
Alfred was taken to a special wardin the hospital. They gave her
the bag with some Alfred's belongings,and off she went, leaving her beloved
behind. Christina recounts that it wasraining heavily that night. She parked the
(09:58):
car in the parking lots and madeher way home. The street was desert,
a stark contrast to the daytime frenzyof cars, pollution, noise,
and people so typically on any cityworldwide. The only people around were the
(10:18):
prostitutes, like she said, theneighbors of the couple who were made for
each other over the past few years, and Christina half away home. She
couldn't take it anymore. She stopped, put her hands on her face and
cried, as if she wanted noone to see the color of the tears
(10:39):
streaming down her face. After afew minutes, she wiped her tears,
lifted her head, and using allher strength, she tried to think rationally.
Cancer. She thought, how arewe going to deal with this?
How was this possible? Suddenly sheremembered that she had to tell her children
(11:03):
the news. She called them deliveringthe bombshell. She recalls, I don't
know how I didn't cry while I'mtelling them, but I said everything.
Then I hung up and went tobed. The next morning she went to
the hospital to visit him and findout what was happening. Alfredo was better,
(11:26):
but still weak. It's in thesemoments that we feel powerless. We
can't do anything, Christina told me. That's why I remember that I could
read him my poems, which heloved so much, and so I did.
She recalls that very evening, duringvisiting hours, I brought my poems.
(11:48):
He owes almost as asleep at thetime of the day, so I
started reading them softly in his ear. Christina remembers with a smile. I
did this every day for two weeks, especially in the evenings. This,
along with the treatments he was undergoing, seemed to have the desired effect,
(12:09):
she said. This was confirmed dayslater when the first results showed in his
levels. Stabili selling and my lovewas becoming himself again, so much so
that he started joking again in goodspirits, she said with a laugh.
At that point, Alfred was readyto start chemotherapy, and Christina continued a
(12:35):
routine of reading him her poems.I never missed a single day. I
was always there. I felt mild. I felt like my mission on Earth.
The first treatment went well and managedto clear many cancer cells, but
a section of chemotherapy clears both cancerousand healthy cells. Every now and then
(13:01):
Alfredo would be really dumb. Duringthose times, Christino would reinforce her reading
of the poems, always intending tohelp fight her husband illness. Sometimes accepted.
Other times he told her to bequiet, and she told me.
But even when he told me tobe quiet, I continue. I continued
(13:24):
more softly, but it didn't stop. I always returned home with the true
conviction that I was helping him.She continued to recall, In fact I
latter discuss I later discovered that everyoneloved hearing my poems. The medical and
nursing staff loved to listen. Timeseemed to stop at those moments. Then
(13:48):
came the second treatment on a Saturdaymorning. Knowing that, like the first
time, Alfredo might felt down,Christina increased the dose of the poems.
She even took photos of the paintingshe liked the most. On Saturday afternoon,
she went there, a flowed aroutine and achieved the expected result,
(14:13):
boosting the morale of her warrior husband. She said, I was so convident
that I would be able to curehim of that disease. She returned the
following Sunday, but this time alfredawas very apathic, and like any thing
(14:33):
seen before, he seemed to beto giving up. Christina remembers, with
a tear rolling down her face.She read more poems than usual, but
after Alfredo seemed to be in anotherworld. All the signs in the universe
were sending me were evident, butyou know, when you are focusing on
(14:56):
one thing, it seems you ignorethe obvious that he was dying and had
given up. She called me recountsthis memory to me the next day Alfred,
who died at that moment, Ifelt I had lost my love forever,
recalls Christina. The story of Alfridaand Christina remind me of the myth
(15:26):
of Ortheus and Euridis or FEUs playedthe leer and was an excellent poet.
Whenever he played and sang nature andpeople were captivated by his music. It
was his superpower let me sell likethat. He fell male in love with
Euridis. One day she was bya river when she was bitten by a
(15:52):
snake, leading to her death.Or FEUs was desperate and heartbroken. He
went to the underworld with his musicand lyrics to rescue Euydis. His sorrowful
song convinced the fairy man Karen totake him to the underworld with his music.
(16:15):
Is also loaded asleep, the threeheaded dog that guarded the interest.
When our Fields arrived in the underworld, he came to face with Hades,
the god of the underworld, andPersephon, his wife. Heads was very
upset with the presence of a livingperson in this real but Persephon, calming
(16:38):
down of heels, then explained whyhe was there. Hads wife felt pitied
for Fields, feeling connected to hispain, and thus persuaded the god.
Being a just god, Hades agreed, but with one condition of Fields would
(17:00):
lead the way or for you readit, but he must never look back
until they had both reached the worldof the living. Until they were in
the light of FEUs agreeted and ledthe way. He climbed the step path,
singing with his leer until he reachedthe top. As he was in
(17:22):
front, he was the first toreceive the rays of the sun, so
it was natural for him to lookback to see his beloved to check if
she had arrived safely. But heforgot that being ahead, she might still
be on her way to the light, still exiting the world of the dead.
(17:45):
And this is what happened of FIUslooked back and he read it was
still emerging from the darkness. Thushe broke the pact he mad he made
with heads. He read it turninto a ghost and return to the underworld.
Or Fears was devastated and vowed neverto love another woman in this world.
(18:10):
We can draw various lessons from thismyth. In a very similarst form,
we can state the following. Firstly, true love will do anything for
its beloved. It will do itwill go to the ends of the earth
to save them. When we chooseto love, all gods and fears are
cast aside, and nothing in thisworld can stop us. Secondly, through
(18:37):
our gifts and talents, we canachieve anything. We can make this world
a better place and help those aroundus, even save our beloved ones.
Thirdly, and last a lack offaith is detrimental to us. In other
words, self sabotage is something thatruins and disgrace us. This is what
(19:00):
happened, Orpheus did when he lookedback. Can you see the similarities between
ALFREDA and Christina and this myth?Not only this couple, but also in
our everyday lives. After Alfred's death, I went straight to my own ail
(19:21):
with Christina recalls. Christina turned topay the bills and support her youngest son,
so until he finished his course.That was my focus. To ensure
Miguel finished his course. She toldme, with her typical determination, I
succeeded. The problem came afterwards.Afterwards I crashed suddenly. I felt an
(19:47):
immense sadness within me. At firstI made a huge effort to get out
of bed and go to work,but I couldn't take it anymore. So
I went to see a doctor.Just felt like crying. They told me
I had a nervous depression, orrather a burnout. They prescribed me some
(20:07):
pills. The doctor told talk tome, but it's as if I wasn't
even in the room listening to him. I don't remember anything he said.
My mind was elsewhere. Right after, I went on sick leave home and
went home. Christina spent the dayin bed. She felt nothing but immense
(20:32):
sadness on her chest, a despair. She didn't know where it came from.
She turned off the phone, closedthe windows, and allowed herself to
be with her sadness despair. Thiswent on for months. She whispers,
as if there were a secrets,and told me, just the simple fact
(20:56):
of having to get up made mecry. My old body was numb.
Days without getting out of bed,without even taking a shower, A profound
apathy and numbness towards everything. Ispent a longer time like this. I
(21:18):
cried so much during those months.I couldn't figure out what was happening until
one day. Until one day,she was sleeping in her bed and dreamt
of Alfredo and the times they wentto the countryside to date, and she
would read poems to her beloved,to her or feels. She dreamt of
(21:41):
his smile during the loud readings inthe fields here on the countryside of the
island. She dreamt of his eyesshowing how much he loved her. In
those times, she dreamt of thehappiness she had at that time. She
told me, Suddenly I woke up, and I looked around the room where
(22:02):
I was, the same room asyears ago share with him. I reached
out to the side where he usedto sleep and found myself crying again.
It was then that I discovered whyI was crying. I hadn't accepted his
death. I cried for several daysin a row, first for his death
(22:25):
and all the proses surrounding it,second for being alone and scared, and
then because I had no idea whatI could do well with my life.
Slowly, Christine Fears began to turninto carriage, courage to move forward with
her life with that she loved andknew how to do, which was writing
(22:48):
and painting. After some time ofsolitary meditation, she decided to go to
a psychologist to help her find herway. After many sessions, many many
sessions, She's found many ghosts.She revolved, She resolved them, and
at the same time found strength tocontinue with her life. She didn't want
(23:12):
to talk about these ghosts, butI presume they must have been associated with
her husband. I think she wentback to the school where she taught.
She founded a reading and poetry clubfor young adults at that school, not
aldults, young boys and girls.Her love for this heart is so great
(23:37):
that she managed to captivate her students. With his love, it seemed like
she had a leer, and withit she enchanted everyone around her. You
really have to be an excellent leaderplayer to convince young people to like poetry.
I say, she started painting again, and he's thinking of writing a
(23:59):
book of poetry. Today. Sheis the grandmother and loves being alive.
Of course, she still feels devoidof Alfredo's absence, but it's true this
that she transforms that feeling of emptinessinto heart, and like Ortheus, she
starts to love again, not anotherman but life itself. Lor Orpheus,
(24:23):
who had looked back and swept herhusband's death under the rug, only accepting
it when she was down there inthe underworld trying to rescue Alfredo with her
poems. There isn't a single daythat I don't remember him. There isn't
a single day that I don't writeabout him, and about how our world
(24:45):
was not only to remember, butfundamentally to bring the world the beauty I
have to convey. She concluded ourconversation. In this way, I went
to hell and back, and believeme, Francisco, every bird was worth
it. I shouldn't be here talkingto you. If it were up to
(25:12):
my whims, I have been deada year ago. I should have grabbed
a bottle of pills and swallowed themall to d resolve to sleep without feeling
any pain, much better than allthe other suicide options, which naturally involved
pain. I couldn't bear my painanymore. Or if I were a priest
(25:37):
my cross. Just like Orpheus whohad the gifts for playing his lear I
have my own gifts. And justlike Orpheus, who liked back when he
reached the surface to check if hisbeloved was coming, I also threw everything
away. I spent so long blamingmyself for everything I had done wrong.
(26:00):
I spent so long feeling ashamed ofwhat I had become. How could I
have reached this point, I says, spend time just like Christina, curl
up in bed, feeling numb allover my body. I know very well
what Christina felt during her nervous breakdown, But just like her, I managed
(26:23):
to get out of bed, justlike her, to transform anger, shame,
and guilt into courage and action.Courage to face my demons, my
ghosts, my goliath. Courage touse our lyric to rise again. To
help ourselves and to help those aroundus, to leave this world better than
(26:47):
we were arrived. This world istoo dark to continue like this. Did
I want to go through what Iwent through? No? I never wanted
or imagined it. If it werepossible to raise all my riscent past,
would I never? Ever? LikeChristina, I went to Helen back.
(27:11):
Well, I guess I haven't completelycome out of there, but yes,
there are lights at the end ofthe tunnel. Let me see like this,
I left behind the old Francisco,the Franciscu was afraid of everything,
even his own shadow. I leftbehind Francisco, who was ashamed of his
himself and how much shame I hadfor what I thought and believed. I
(27:37):
left behind Franciscu, who was toblame for the sky being gray or blue.
I carry all the blames on hisshoulders. I only managined to forgive
myself not long ago. But itwas a very painful process. But I
did it many times. I cried, justly like Christina cried that night,
(28:00):
coming after leaving her love in thehospital. The grape was born to be
transformed into wine and live a lifethat otherwise would have a very short time.
Like I said at the beginning ofthis episode, the grape to become
wine must be crushed, to becomethe nectar of gods. I absolutely sure
(28:26):
that Christina Grapes is producing a beautifuland tasty wine. Confusius once said,
we all have two lives. Thesecond one starts when we realize we have
only one. I'm sure my wine, just like Christina, is undoubtedly a
(28:48):
wonderful Portuguese wine. Caze Irm LindaFretch trinked reservatint go to the Google and
translate. Doesn't matter where you start, it matters where you finish. That
most people who I have met inlife who did exceptional things, it was
(29:10):
always a comeback from exceptional crushings.Grapes are the only fruit that's raised to
be crushed, not to be protected, because in the process of crushing the
grape, it finally comes to itsultimate purpose becoming wine and last ten twenty
hundreds of years. If it hadnot been crushed, it would not have
survived. And the things that driveyou to be successful, that make you
(29:34):
work harder, that make you studyharder, that make you do more than
other people do, are often rootedin what you are running from, not
what you're running,
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