The child I never expected

There are notarial deeds that I remember in every detail, and others that have naturally faded with time.

But every now and then something extraordinary happens.

Someone walks back into my office and returns a memory I didn't even realise I had left behind.

It happened a few years ago.

A young couple came to see me to sign a deed, bringing along their little boy.

While his parents were busy with the paperwork, he wandered quietly around the office, looking for something to do.

Every so often I glanced at him, and there was something rather touching about seeing such a young child playing on his own.

Anyone who knows me knows how important family has always been in my life.

I grew up with a twin brother and a sister. I have three children of my own and today one of my greatest joys is spending time with my grandchildren.

My office is filled with family photographs and, more often than not, they become the starting point for conversations with my clients.

That day, almost without thinking, I found myself talking to the couple about the value of growing up with brothers and sisters.

I remember saying something along the lines of:

"It's a shame to see him playing all by himself. Having a little brother or sister would be one of the greatest gifts you could ever give him."

They smiled politely and replied that, at least for the time being, they had no plans to expand the family.

The conversation ended there.

We signed the deed, said our goodbyes and, as so often happens in my profession, life simply moved on.

Several years passed.

Then one day the very same couple returned to my office for another matter.

This time they arrived with two children.

I must admit that I had completely forgotten our conversation from years before.

At the end of the appointment, however, they looked at me and smiled.

"Notary, you probably don't remember this, but when we were here last time you spent quite a while talking about how wonderful it is for a child to grow up with a brother or sister. We kept thinking about what you said after we went home. The little boy you see standing next to his older brother is here today partly because of that conversation."

For a few moments I didn't know what to say.

Not because I believed I had changed their lives.

The most important decisions always belong to the people who make them.

What moved me was something else entirely.

The thought that a simple, spontaneous conversation during the signing of a deed had remained with them for so many years and had become part of such an important decision.

I looked at those two brothers standing side by side and felt a quiet happiness that is difficult to describe.

It was one of those rare moments that remind you your work is not only about legal clauses, signatures and official documents.

Above all, it is about people.

And every now and then, without even realising it, you are given the privilege of leaving a small but meaningful mark on someone else's journey.

I still think about that family from time to time.

Whenever I do, I become even more convinced that a Notary's role is not limited to giving legal form to people's plans.

It is also about listening, talking, sharing ideas and, for a brief moment, walking alongside those who sit across the desk from you.

Perhaps that is the most rewarding part of my profession.