After four years managing vineyards for Cline Cellars and being 59 years old, I decided to start a vineyard management business. My brother Michel said, “It’s about time you are totally on your own.” In retrospect, I should have done it a lot sooner. I bought tractors and trucks, ATVs, harvest equipment. I assembled a great crew, guided by Ermelando whom I had known since he arrived from Mexico as a teenager many years ago.
Developing a vineyard for the Sangiacomo family became my best accomplishment. The Roberts Road vineyard is now famous for the outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines produced from those grapes. I introduced my grandkids to riding four wheelers in this vineyard. It was so much fun until Max lost control and hit a post in the vineyard. Of course, as young teenagers they were fearless. The year 2013, I turned 70 and, being unattached, I went to France with Phil and Kathy Carlsen, staying in Paris a few days. Phil and I enjoyed going to the tennis French Open at Rolland Garros, something I hoped to do for a long time. The two days spent were memorable, but Phil probably remembers best that while standing in the crowded metro, a pickpocket took his wallet, stole his money, threw the wallet on the platform, and disappeared in the crowd. It took her only a few seconds.
We took the TGV (high-speed train) down to Libourne where my brother was waiting for us. We stayed at his place, Chateau Cazeau, a beautiful property that our parents purchased in the late 50’s. Michel, being the oldest son, made it his home shortly after it was purchased and lived there until he sold it recently with all the vineyard and winery business he developed over the years. Now retired, he lives in the village of Sauveterre de Guyenne. He totally remodeled and decorated a great house near the town square. His wife, Martine, stays in her impressive, newly-constructed home a few kilometers away. My family is always welcome in their homes, entertained in luxury.
Phil, Kathy, and I drove down to the Pyrenees to Lourdes shrine. We walked by the rock where the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to Bernadette. Ecstatic, Kathy said, “I need to walk by it again.” I am so glad she experienced such a beautiful place, as she is quite religious. Upon returning to Cazeau, Michel and Martine organized a catered garden party for friends and family. I was thrilled to see a lot of my nephews and nieces. It was a fairytale event. We spent a couple of days at my sister’s charming house on the Dordogne River.
Also that summer, my three daughters and son organized a “French picnic style” party for my birthday. Marie-Helene and her family came from Germany for the occasion. A great party, great food and wine, kids playing in the pool! But the best part for me was the “roast” Anton, Zachery, and Max gave me, recalling stories and mimicking me in a very funny way, including my French accent I never lost! What a day!
After seeing the movie The Way I was inspired to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain. At Christmas dinner in 2013, with my family assembled, I asked, “Who wants to walk with me next year?” Right away Nick said, “I will!”
Sunny, Nick’s girlfriend–and they married the following year–gave us a ride to SFO, with our backpacks and guide books. I was quite anxious and worried about walking four or five hours a day, finding a place to sleep, in an unfamiliar, foreign country. We arrived in Santiago de Compostela after a stopover in Madrid and spent the night there. The next morning, we took a bus to the town of Sarria, about 100 km away from Santiago. I insisted on leaving the hostel very early the next day, afraid of not making it to Albergue Mercadoiro, about 17 km away. We arrived there by 11 in the morning with nothing to do the rest of the day in this tiny hamlet. Nick and I enjoyed a beer or two, some of many along the way. It all went well, meeting pilgrims from around the world, enjoying the slow pace. We reached Santiago five days later, proud of our accomplishment. We went to the noon mass in the cathedral and were thrilled to observe the giant incense burner “Botafumiero” swinging close to the high ceiling of the church, an incredible sight.
These few days spent together, away from modern, daily obligations, inspired me to cherish a slower pace of life. I knew then I had to go back and venture again carrying only a few essentials in a backpack.
Nick and Sunny married in 2015 on the campus of Canada College where they both worked. It was a great wedding, lots of cheers and dancing. One of Nick’s cousins, Michel’s son Emmanuel, came from France, and some of Sunny’s family from South Korea as well. The family was expanding and more diverse. Sunny and Nick welcomed Julien, my seventh grandchild, into this world on Valentine’s Day the following year.
