Lisbon Book Presentation

The next presentation, which took place in Lisbon just a week after the radio interview, was a bit of a disaster. Traveling from Porto to Lisbon means crossing the country — about 300 kilometers in Portugal’s case. In that same weekend there were major protests happening, led by teachers for very legitimate causes.

As a result, the city traffic was chaotic. Some of the people I was expecting to attend couldn’t make it. And yes, I’ll confess — that upset me.

Still, I carried on with the presentation as best as I could, despite all the setbacks. It was the one where I truly wanted to show that this is a real story. I made sure to present slides with videos and photos — of that house, of each of those people, and of the farm where I grew up. It was intense. I needed tissues handed to me by friends to wipe away the tears.

I spoke about very difficult topics — for instance, about suicide, which my own father once attempted. And once again, my father, being such a troubled figure, was someone I could only begin to forgive after understanding more of his own story — and realizing how I was part of deeply ingrained family cycles, full of normalized violence and neglect.

Precisely at that point — where we often ignore our stories and move on with a certain sense of denial — I am the opposite. I need to tell this story. I need to cry as much as necessary in order to also become a symbol of change.

With every tear, every word I write, with every presentation I give — I am breaking away from these disasters.

And that is what I also want to communicate.

This is a true story, one that carries pain — but one that also brings renewal.