sent from: El Barco de Avila, Spain. destination: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

My Abuelo was a stonemason, following his father and grandfather. Then he was a policeman, and fought for Franco in the Spanish Civil War. After the war he went back to policing the mean streets of Barcelona, laying down the hammer on anything remotely subversive or countercultural. He retired to the countryside in his mid-50s on a good pension to raise bees, hunt rabbits, grow lettuce and become the wise old man of the village, beloved and respected. He was also an artist, making tables and chairs out of recycled materials he knew well – concrete, tile, metal scrap, stone.
So, if the lessons for a happy life are here you must – fight commies, beat up hippies, then turn and go full hipster, grow beans, become self-sufficient, upcycle, make honey.