I begin this story of a piece of my life writing from a table that belonged to my great-grandfather, Juan José Donzella, that I always saw at my grandparents' house, this one has a great story behind it....
The table
I will write about my great-grandfather, my grandparents and about this table that takes us to old memories... because they left so much in me. Now from this same table I continue this new adventure of capturing in letters what is in my heart, and I realized that it is something of generations... How many of these letters would be written on this table? Letters of love, some of pain, others to make us reflect, to make us live in a place even without being there, some letters were written and teach us about our past, where we come from and others that made us laugh...
the facade
the Donzella brewery
the table when I was at the Donzella brewery.
This table was part of the furniture of what was once the Donzella Brewery, founded by my great-grandfather in the city of Caracas, Venezuela in the 1920s, being one of the first breweries and meeting place of many characters, from politicians and people of good social position, to the common people. Later my great-grandfather left his two sons: John and Gustavo (who is my grandfather) in charge of this place, perhaps at this same table many strategies were discussed in order to end a dictatorship which was lived at that time in Venezuela, also a place where many writers would make their poems. This brewery closed in 1952 and this table went to my grandfather's house, where I met it. They left them to us as an inheritance and until today, writing this post, is that I realize that there are letters from my grandparents to my father, I have many letters from my father to me, I always liked to express myself through letters and I have letters that I wrote to my son... and today in the year 2021 (where everything is technology) my son likes to write letters in his own handwriting, on paper ... And many of them have been written at this very table.
My grandparents through their stories, their lives and the things they gave us as an inheritance taught us to love reading and to transmit our feelings through words written in letters, they taught us to treasure the good and to unite it with the new, to love to express ourselves, to share our stories and lives with family, friends and sometimes even with strangers so that they pass from generation to generation.
From this table I tell you a little story of the Donzella's in Venezuela, I open a little of my life and what I am, I hope to meet more of many of you and enjoy great gatherings that give us the most beautiful thing in life, cultivate new friendships
