A passion that came and went many times
Little squirrel was what Sergio used to call Vera Beatriz, the great love of his life. From this nickname came Kilin, one of Sergio's most famous creations, who addressed his wife using his nickname all his life. As far as she was concerned, Vera Beatriz was amused at Sergio's slanted eyes and his playfulness. She started by calling him a foolish Chinese, which turned into Xibô and ended up becoming the name of another important piece in the designer's story: The Xibô chair. Beatriz Vera and Sergio's story had a chapter all of its own.
Vera Beatriz dated Sergio at the tender age of 13. And he was all but 16 years old at the time. They dated at parties, as did all teenagers. "It was platonic love. He would always say: 'Will you marry me?' We dated for a year. For a year we danced at all parties," says Vera Beatriz. After a while, Vera Beatriz learned that Sergio was the nephew of Nelson Rodrigues. Her mother was worried about her daughter dating a boy from a family she considered very complicated. "Nelson, at the time, was a scandal. The bourgeoisie would get up and leave during plays because they said things no one dared to bring up on stage. When my mother heard that, she was not amused. Furthermore, she had read about his father's tragic murder in the newspapers."
Vera Beatriz was beautiful and very popular among boys. Unable to withstand the pressure from her family, the relationship ended after a year. Sergio was heartbroken. "He wouldn't leave me alone, he even followed me to church. He would wake up early in the morning because the bus from Sacre Coeur would pick me up before seven. He would go to the corner just to wave me goodbye."
Time passed and Vera Beatriz married her first husband. She says that he was a good, kind man, but they had nothing in common and, after the birth of their son, Luiz Eduardo, and of four years of marriage, Vera Beatriz left him. He was very disconnected from the world, while Beatriz Vera was a modern, educated, lively woman. Her marriage was no longer going well, and Beatriz Vera announced her divorce. "At the time, it was an act of heroism because no one separated. My father wouldn't talk to me for a long time."
After this first separation, her parents sent her to Curitiba where her Uncle Munhoz da Rocha was the governor. They agreed that he would offer her a notary public in northern Paraná if she gave up the separation. She didn't, but while in Curitiba she went to her uncle's library and ended up bumping into Sergio, who, at the time, worked for the government of Paraná. "He turned pale. He had just gotten married and I had already separated." Sergio went away and told his then wife, Vera Maria, to whom he was still married. The truth is that Sergio's passion for Vera Beatriz had never ended. Later, Vera Beatriz found that, in his teens, Sergio had kept a notebook where he described all the parties they went to those days they dated, all of her dresses, and the songs the two danced to.
