Train of Longing
in the Rails of Hope

Before I continue, allow me to begin these pages with a quote from Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States: “When I do good, I feel good; when I do evil, I feel bad. That is my religion.” Perhaps, dear reader, the true meaning of these words will only be fully revealed when you reach the last paragraph of this book.

In those years, my family was still bearing the consequences of a policy that had left deep scars on our lives. Because of it, my parents, my siblings, and I were forced to leave. We left Araripa, the little corner of the world we had called home since 1955, and went to live in Itajaí Water, at the Crossroads farm, about three kilometers before the Aquidaban District. I must have been around twelve years old .