| |
A TRIBUTE
"To my father, my life teacher and my childhood hero, in a low and imprecise flight through your hours, in loving memory of your great life. Little brush strokes, perhaps only a rough sketch, as seen through my partial eyes"
There are stories which are written to be read, and lives that, without making history, are nevertheless interesting. They belong to ordinary people, of which there happens to be a number none less ordinary, and day by day, deed upon deed, memory upon memory they find their own shelf in this strange and exciting place called the World. As chance would have it, Luis Puntes was born in nineteen twenty, in a small village within the province of Zaragoza. There in Muel his father, Luis, "made shoes and mended the soles of the whole village". Thus, throughout his childhood, he was brought up with the freedom which is provided by small spaces and the tremendous love of a family that gave him enough good memories for him to be able to face all the things life was to have in store for him.
Life has treated him to extremes; extremes in giving and taking away and extremes in putting him to the test. From being a small child, Luis Puntes knew how to see, observe, accept and evolve. If typhus thought it could get the better of a skinny little boy, it was mistaken. Luis Puntes emerged from that long illness with a box of colours and he was led passionately into what has undoubtedly been his great refuge: art.
A few years later, his family decided to move to this city, in search of a more secure income. Good fortune being as elusive as it is, the family suffered a hard blow and had to resort to the effort and determination of Luis, who, at about twelve years old, had to abandon his academic studies and start work.
One peseta. One good round shiny - gigantic - peseta, which probably jumped from pocket to hand and hand to pocket, was the first wage earned by Luis Puntes as a bellboy in a renowned cafeteria in the city.
Today Luis has a look that transcends the superficial and observes and fragments the countryside and places it comfortably on a canvas; the same eyes that witnessed civil and family disasters, were able to steal the best hours of sunlight from the countryside, and allow our eyes to see the enchantment of this apparently rough landscape.
He therefore had to be sensitive, and he was, as sensitive as a man could be in those times.
As if one responsibility flowed into another, Luis moved on into a number of professional stages, one of which was to work as a manager for an important company in Zaragoza. At that time, he was offered the chance to work in politics, but he showed a preference for cultural groups. Although he had to leave school early, the truth is that Luis Puntes, has never stopped learning, and reading has been his other great passion.
In spite of great family adversities, Luis continued to better himself within his trilogy of art, work and family. It was a long, slow and difficult road, but one which he followed relentlessly, with the firm belief that it was worth the effort.
On reaching forty years of age, he took the decision to leave a stable job, and rejected a salary which was ten times higher. His own project had been born. All he had to do was carry it out…
The fact that Cauchos Puntes was the first industry to settle in Cuarte de Huerva, is a consequence of that fate that seems to follow Luis around.
His small business began with a simple press, in the basement of a premises in a suburb of Zaragoza, but not long after he started, a new, unchosen challenge forced them to move.
By then, he know very well what it meant to be on the move, so the Puntes family moved again, this time to the Valencia road, where Cauchos Puntes is situated today.
In those days, the authorisation and collaboration of the Mayor of Cuarte at the time, was of course absolutely necessary for the development of the factory.
After that, other small industries began to set up close by and Luis Puntes, founder member of the local Association of Industrialists, worked to attract a doctor's surgery, which would be able to attend the possible accidents of workers in the area. It was his wish for an Aragonese clinic to be set up in the Cuarte area and it must have come true, because the same medical centre is there today.
Luis Puntes is defined by his actions and his character. I think it would be no mistake to think of Luis Puntes as a disciplined, hardworking man, with a great sense of social justice, a non-conformist, a defender of family values, in love with his land and in continuous personal challenge.
From one peseta to a means for life, from the obligations of employment to the passion and thrills of a business, from a wounded heart to the sensitivity of an artist. And, as I have witnessed all this, from honesty to honesty.
Nowadays, Luis continues to give rhythm to each of his days, surrounded by his people, stimulated by his art, following the news with passion, and there is practically nothing, which is not important to him.
Angela Puntes
Papa passed away on 13th February 2004,
surrounded by all his family. May he rest in peace
|
