To Professor Lucas and Paula -- With Gratitude and Respect…read more
Some people teach you a skill. Others change your life without ever realizing the full impact they've had. Lucas and Paula, you are the kind of people who do both.
5 years ago, I became part of a jujutsu school that I thought would teach me martial arts. What I found was something far more meaningful: a family.
Lucas, you and Paula made an incredible sacrifice when you left Brazil and everything familiar to pursue the possibility of a new life in America. Starting over in a new country takes courage, faith, and a willingness to risk everything for the chance to build something better. What you've built is so much more than a school. It is a legacy.
There is something truly special about the environment you've created. In a world where so many people feel disconnected, your school has become a place where people belong. It is a place where friendships become family, where discipline becomes confidence, where adversity becomes strength, and where people discover that they are capable of far more than they ever imagined.
You set out to teach jujutsu, but the impact of what you've created reaches far beyond the mats. You've helped people become healthier, stronger, more confident, and more disciplined. You've given people purpose, direction, and something to work toward when life gets difficult. You've helped shape young people into warriors, not just in the physical sense, but in the way they face the world. And I have no doubt that the lessons and support found within your school have changed--and in some cases, even saved--lives.
That is a remarkable thing to accomplish, and I hope you both understand just how much it matters.
And now, as you raise your beautiful baby Gabriel into the world, you get to begin an entirely new chapter. You've spent years helping shape the lives of so many others, and now you have the opportunity to raise a little boy in the very same spirit of courage, kindness, discipline, and love that you have shown to everyone around you. If he grows up with even a fraction of the character you both possess, he will be a very fortunate young man.
Lucas and Paula, thank you for taking the risk, making the sacrifices, and building something that means so much to so many people. Thank you for the example you set, the family you've created, and the lives you continue to touch. Being part of this school for the past six years has meant more to me than I can adequately put into words.
I hope the love, loyalty, and respect you have poured into others come back to you tenfold. You deserve every bit of happiness, success, and recognition that life has to offer.
You came to America in pursuit of a better life, but along the way, you've made life better for so many other people. That is a legacy worth being proud of.
With all my respect, gratitude, and love for you both.
