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My Father.
My Father is Jose Eduardo Roquette de Aragão Pinto. The pride I have to write this. It was born September, the 11th of 1948 in Fajarda - Coruche.
For me my Father was immortal, invincible. Perfect.
I will try to even summarize the life of my father. Each time I started to write this text, it seems to me an impossible task….but I’ll try.
I remember my Father telling me that it passed for some colleges, secondary school, schools and was banish from all… for the active person that were, for lacking to go to play soccer, for making to laugh the entire class and for finding that for less than he made the things also appeared done… had the luck of my grandmothers always to intercede next to the directors for giving another chance to them, mainly my grandmother, who gave lots of love to the dear son and she did not leave that nothing of badly happened to him. He was the light of her eyes.
The sport was his great passion, and he escapes from the Catholic Center where it went to play table tennis, modality of which was champion some consecutive years. I have all the goblets…
The Soccer was another passion, played with the friends, in matches, and always the best in scoring goals…
The Sporting Club of Portugal also was in his blood, was nephew-grandson of Jose de Alvalade who established the Sporting Club of Portugal, all the family helped to construct this dream and my grandmother always counted to me that until raffles she sold to get money for the stadium.
My Grandfather Enrique was director of the Sporting Journal, the family had two lifetime berths in the Stadium Jose de Alvalade and already all were born with the “stamp”. But I explain later.
The family every year went to pass vacation in S. Martinho of the Port. Another passion.
With 19 years my father knew my mother, who in the height had 13… asked to be his girlfriend several times but she never accepted.
My father was called for the War of Overseas and always wrote my mother. I have the letters… I remember my father to count to me that he lived very complicated situations during the war, things for which nobody must pass and nobody must live. But maybe this experience transformed it into the person who was.
When he arrived from war he asked for my mother in marriage and it accepted! And I was born!
Then my sister Rita was born, who with 4 months gone to heaven. She had 4 years and I remember to see my parents completely changed back. As if the life had finished, but also saw the courage to be followed explaining in front of me of the best form what had happened to my sister Rita. Later was born my brother Ricardo and was the joy and hope of life to any house, any family.
We went every year for S. Martinho, we made many programs in family, and my father lived the life in full. The important thing was to be happy. And was always worried about the others. It had the grandiosities of heart of wanting to spread the happiness to all the ones that loved and that they were special for it. I remember that my mother is that imposed the rules, my father was the player!
Every year in S. Martinho it gained the tennis matches, and I was the proud daughter that saw all the games with much attention, cried out with supporting fans. In the end of each match he had a ball of delivery of awards, and my father always took me to his arms to receive the goblet.
All the weekends we went to the CIF to see it to play soccer in his team, the Cosmos, always the best in the field…
I was with it to see the 7-1 against Benfica and my father was euphoric! Every goal he put me in the air and at the end he took me to commemorate!
My parents had a fantastic relation and this made with that our house was a joy.
I remember to see my father very sad when my grandfather departed to heaven, but passed little time was invited to be vice-president of the Sporting of the amateur modalities. We were in the car when it counted in them to all and in the end he said: ” my father must be so proud and to make a party up there”.
They had been extraordinary times, where we all went to every place with Sporting.
One day he took me and my brother to the stadium and showed to us to all the hidings place. We entered as the players enter and walked to play with the ball in the field, that sensation… I will never forget it.
He was invited to go to the program of the David Borges in the SIC and was commentator of the TSF in the program of the Fernando Correia. I have the writings all kept…
None of my boyfriends was enough good for my father, until being likeable with them, made to them black life… passing for incredible proves. And if they here from Benfica, god helps them…
My brother decided that he wanted to leave to study to be a soccer player. My father supported him 100%. He went to see Ricardo in every training, game, took off some copies of the Journal where he left the first news of a game of my brother where it made the difference; he played in Atlético, the Casa Pia and Sporting CP. One day said that it did not want to play more… wanted to come back to study… wanted to have a normal life as his friends, wanted to have weekends, wanted to leave at night. My Father every time supported our decisions.
After sometime he came back to the Sporting CP and he passed for some functions, sporting director of main soccer team, security director, sporting director of young players and this was without a doubt the one that gave him more joy and more motivation. I remember him to count with pride the small ones that arrived and that my father saw the potential and that they will became great players. The Sporting Academy absorbed him completely. When he took us there the first time, showed everything, even the little details.
One time I was invited to participate in a game of soccer in the academy with other known faces, my father was divided in the perfect host, the perfect trainer and the perfect father.
The Sporting CP was champion to the end of 18 years and that party!
The opening of the new stadium, another one “drinks” of my father who was very involved since the beginning to the end of all the organization. He did not rest while all the family did not have tickets and was involved to the maximum so that decent places in the new stadium were attributed who had lifetime berths in the old stadium.
I received the emblem from the 25 years of partner of the Sporting and he was so proud…
In my first Marriage my Father was happy. He took me to the altar went counting jokes… One more time it was the joy of the party and offered the marriage to me of my dreams. He did not refuse me anything. As always.
The birth of my two first children had been others two moments where I saw my father completely dribbled, if always were dribbled with the children.
The days of games were days of stress for my father, were almost as if it organized excursions, worried that all had tickets, because for it was one day of party that nobody could lose.
When my mother went to heaven my father helped me and my brother to keep on our foot.
When he said to him that I wanted to be divorce, my father said me: “make what your hearth says to you, because the important is to be happy and if we are not we have to change something, now remember that the most important is to continue friends.” I followed this advice to the scratch.
The cycle of the life is funny, because at a certain age we feel that our parents need us as we always need them. We all are the structure base of each other.
We went to see the soccer game Sporting CP - Porto, we sing and commemorate the goals together.
In the following day my father went to heaven. I was mad with it! How could he ever done this! He was immortal. Invincible. Perfect! How he let this happen?
I know that now he is with my mother, my sister Rita and my Grandfather Enrique. And that, up there, he follows his family, minute by minute. And that he continues to be proud and to take care of us.
Months later the Sporting had the pleasantness to invite me to present the Gala of the Sporting, then invited me to be ambassadress of the “women with claw” of the Sporting, because of the day woman. And I know that my father and his proud are near me all the time and my brother is always here for me also.
He must be proud because I has married another time, with a fantastic person, much similar to him for sign, to had my daughter Joaninha that the first “joke”was to say Sporting and raise her arms and that she is partner since the day she was born.
My brother have take the place of him and helps me and never leaves me. He have a fantastic fiancé which are going to marry this year.
He must be happy with the idea of this Foundation and with all those that are helping and supporting. Again to see small children having the opportunity to became better persons and great athletes.
Thank you father, for having been who you were. For these memories. Having the strength to live the life strongly, giving all to you and the others, making each day special and different like it was the last one. Thank you for making everybody around you happy and with goals in life. He never loosed time with insignificant things and even with the disillusions and disgusts that the life gives, we always had the strength to raise the head and to continue.
Thank you father for everything.
Marta Aragão Pinto
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