Lessons from a Portuguese Woman

The View

She was in coveralls, smudged by soot from head to toe.

She had been cleaning the fireplace of one of the apartment she owns.  She did not look the part at that time – but I was looking at one of the more financially savvy immigrant septuagenarian of Vancouver.  Her eyes had confidence as it held mine, and kindness too, perceptible and palpable, the trait of ladies who have aged gently.  I could tell life has been good to her, because maybe she has been good to it.

I was a prospective renter and I engaged her in conversation because her story – which I knew from people who knew her for some time – greatly interested me.  She owned several apartments but she arrived in Canada without money, or possessions.  I wondered how that could be, what’s her story, and can it be duplicated?

She indulged my relentless questioning and answered gently, slowly, her accent appearing, and disappearing all too soon.  It was rhythmic, her voice and every inflection, as she spoke with the wisdom given her by experience and by time.

She told me that when she was a new immigrant in Canada, she was scared and lost and poor.  During the first years, they lived in an apartment that had minimum furnishings and without television because she had no money to buy a television set or pay for cable. She was afraid to buy a house because she thought the banks would take it if she or her husband lost their jobs, and then when will she and her family go?

When I asked her how she did it, she told me these:

1.  In business, your only partner should be your husband.  It might work with another partner, it might not, but most of the time, it does not.  And when it does not work, everything becomes ugly, and a lot of money is lost.  Your partner should only be your husband.  Partnership with other people is a gamble.   She never was a gambler, she said.

2.  If you cannot afford to pay in cash, then you should not buy. In fact, she bought her first house after ten years of renting – in cash.  She still abides by this, she said, and this is her personal panacea for debt problems.

I barely scratched the surface, but the snow was gleaming its brightest and beckoning us to come out (see the picture above, which is a view from the house).  I know that I will still learn so much more from her, and hopefully, she will indulge me still.  She did say she could be our mother when I told her my mother could only be with us for one month.

The sad part is that we were forced to give up moving to her house because I was unable to break my lease – well, it is one of the many lessons we learned since coming to Canada.  More on that in the next articles, or maybe in a book, which I intend to write.  (Rhonda Byrne emailed, “You create your future with the power of your intention. Intention is simply the conscious act of determining your future now. Health, harmony in relationships, happiness, money, creativity, and love will come to you in the future, based on your intentions now.  Intend every day and create your future life.”)

I also intend to talk more to my mulher Portuguesa, the living proof that Canada is a land of opportunities, that people can make it here, and to those who are fearless, the adventure may well be worth the thousand miles (literally and figuratively) it took them to get to this beautiful, diverse, exciting land.

Article and photos by Issa. Copyright 2009-2012.
website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com
email: issa@youwanttoberich.com

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