I will not be able to leave my daughter the great fortunes that I do not possess, and I am happy not to crush her talent with my success. But I can be with her, give her my time, show her how beautiful and fascinating she will be if she fights, and also … the depression and the gray life that remains for those who do not get up to achieve another.
In the first assessment, the grades were not adequate, especially in English, due to sheer negligence in not having delivered two assignments on time and in due form. It’s not that she has a problem with English, but so that she understands the type of life that awaits her if she is not careful, I found her a teacher on the other side of Barcelona, in Borne, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. every day, weekends and public holidays included, and with the sole exception of Christmas.
And during these days of rest for his friends and other children his age, we get up at 6:30 a.m. to go by metro to Plaza Cataluña, go down the Rambla, turn onto Fernando to Layetana and there look for Calle Flassaders among the chaos of small streets and passages behind Santa María del Mar.
My daughter didn’t complain, she apologized when the notes arrived and every morning she is ready to leave the house at the exact time and not be late. During our conversations during the trip, I explain to him that it is not a punishment but what happens when you are not able to do what you want. This cold, this rain, these dozens of people sleeping in the street. It’s not a punishment, Maria, I just want you to understand that if you don’t do anything, it will be your life. The Ritz in Paris and these streets that never stop being sad even when they sleep, it’s exactly the same education. It’s kill or be killed.
On Christmas Day, in the afternoon, I usually go to Dry Martini with my younger friends and Maria goes there too. Everyone laughed about her grades, mercilessly, and about her first classes, and she laughed, and she talked back, and she was very nice to everyone but certainly not as lively as she had been in recent years. And someone asked her if she was tired because she woke up early and she answered: not only because of the weather, but also because of having to get up, because of the terrible landscape every morning, and even though the teacher is very nice, when I see his space and his life, I think that even not being very good at his job allowed him to live like us. I’m tired, yes, but it’s not just physical.
Maria is right: fair or unfair, these are the terms of the fight. Doing it very well is essential but not for decorative purposes but to win, and someone else gets the attic on the fifth floor, and no elevator. And while the starting point isn’t that easy for everyone, our lives depend on our decisions and when we stop putting them off with excuses.
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