Last Friday, I joined over twenty Brazilian women visiting the city of Fátima. The group, composed of embroiderers from various Brazilian states, travelled to Portugal and France on a tour called 'The Embroidery Route'. The itinerary was organised by a travel agency in collaboration with an embroidery teacher—my former boss and her daughter. It was a moment to reconnect with dear friends, celebrate Easter, and receive the affection so craved by an immigrant living abroad. I met women with diverse backgrounds, all united by their love for embroidery. One explained that both her grandmothers were crocheters, which inspired her to develop the same manual skill. Upon retiring after three decades as a preschool teacher, she found inspiration in Chilean 'arpilleras'. This type of embroidery on jute emerged during the repression of the military dictatorship in Chile, where women used it as a form of resistance in neighbourhood workshops, prisons, and detention centres to express their feelings, demands, and denunciations. Another member, a public school History and Geography teacher, shared that after retiring, she took off her watch and decided to live life at her own pace. She began embroidering her life onto fabric, documenting travels and long encounters with literature. She revealed she had once corresponded with Rubem Alves, praising the writer for his contributions to education and his unique use of language. In conversation with the group, the teacher discussed embroidery as a language that transcends generations, noting that every country has its own unique designs, stitches, and threads—a cultural richness that tells many stories. She also mentioned how the trip was designed to promote experiences and contact with traditions, viewing embroidery as an intertwining of wisdom and legacies. One of the travellers, an expert in Castelo Branco embroidery, held a workshop for the women. This Portuguese style uses silk threads and specific imagery, such as birds, the tree of life, carnations, lilies, pomegranates, and hearts. These themes have influenced architecture, fashion, stamps, furniture, and even the design of coins, continuing to stitch together the stories of Portuguese and Brazilian women. As life is embroidered, stitch by stitch, the trip to Fátima strengthened a spirit of gratitude, awakened memories, and brought a new perspective to those who had already visited the site. Some lit candles, others performed penances on their knees, and we, as a group, delivered letters to Our Lady in a communication that transcends borders. Being in places that gather spirituality, each in its own way, reminds us that life is here and now. It is necessary to keep this notion of finitude and scale in sight to stay grounded in reality. We are part of the whole, yet we are also just a part. In Aljustrel, the village where the three little shepherds lived, we met the niece of Jacinta and Francisco, also named Jacinta in honour of her aunt. The 83-year-old lady posed for photos and received hugs and compliments from the embroiderers. She responded to the group with a serenity that contrasted with the Brazilian euphoria, saying that everyone has their own story and that the scented rosaries sold there were authentic: 'We die, and the scent remains.'
