Susana

On a crisp Wednesday morning in January 1981, while the bells of Coimbra's ancient university were chiming across the cobblestone streets, something wonderful was beginning. You, Susana, had chosen quite the moment to make your entrance into the world—arriving on the very day when Ronald Reagan was being sworn in as the 40th President of the United States, half a world away. Little did anyone know that this baby in Coimbra would soon embark on her own grand adventure to Venezuela, eventually returning with a charming Spanish lilt that would make her teachers smile.

The world you entered was electric with change and tension. Just two days earlier, Iran had finally released the American hostages after 444 days of captivity, and Reagan's inauguration was dominating headlines from Lisbon to Caracas. In Portugal, President Ramalho Eanes was navigating the country's young democracy, while across the Atlantic in Venezuela—where you'd soon spend your early years—President Luis Herrera Campins was grappling with oil wealth and social transformation. Your parents, like so many Portuguese emigrants of that era, were part of a great wave seeking opportunity beyond their homeland's borders.

As you were taking your first breaths, people everywhere were humming along to 'Woman' by John Lennon, a poignant posthumous hit that topped charts just weeks after his tragic death. Cinema-goers were lining up to see '9 to 5' with Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin—a comedy about workplace empowerment that felt revolutionary. A loaf of bread in Portugal cost about 8 escudos, and families gathered around their television sets to watch 'Dallas' and wonder who shot J.R. The fashion world was embracing bold shoulder pads and bright colors—perhaps the first spark of that passion for style that would later make your eyes glow.

Snapshot facts are AI-generated and may occasionally contain inaccuracies.

January in Coimbra meant crisp mornings and the quiet intensity of a university town between semesters. Football fans across Portugal were following Benfica's championship campaign, while in far-off America, the Oakland Raiders were preparing for what would become their Super Bowl XV victory. The weather in your birthplace was typically mild for winter, perfect for those contemplative walks along the Mondego River that students and locals alike treasured. Meanwhile, in the tropical warmth of Venezuela where you'd soon find yourself, the seasons followed a different rhythm entirely.

Looking back now, there's something beautifully fitting about beginning life in a city renowned for its university and medical school—the very place you'd return to years later to train as a nurse, carrying with you those Venezuelan memories and that distinctive accent. From your earliest moments, you were destined to be a bridge between worlds: Portuguese roots, Venezuelan childhood, a calling to heal others through nursing, and a soul that finds joy in both the precision of surgery and the grace of yoga poses. That January baby who arrived during such a pivotal moment in history grew up to embody the very best of what it means to help others while never losing sight of what makes life beautiful.