My maternal grandmother, Maria do Rego Raposo or “Marquinhas”
I always lived with my daughter, so when she emigrated to Canada with my dear grand children, I thought I would never see them again. I was a widow and they were my life. In 1963, I left for Canada to join them.
I’m going to tell you a funny story. My sister Cremilde had her first daughter. Constantino, her husband, went to register the child at the City Hall. He named her after his mother, Maria da Ressurreição.
When he got back home, I told him that the name was horrible, not in fashion. I took the little girl to the church and registered her as "Helena". Many years later, she got married and needed a mortgage to buy a house. Fernando Maré helped Helena with the paperwork. The application was refused because her official name at the City Hall was Maria da Ressurreição. From that day on, she decided to use the name Helena, forever.