COXXA (Comissão Organizadora Jantar Xau-Xau Avó Mané – Mané Farewell Dinner Organising Committee)
On Behalf of the Finalists Comission 2009-2015: Gisela Leiras, Mafalda Teixeira and Duarte Brito
Thanks to other members: Maria Inês Borges, Larissa Morais and José Ramalho

This Finalists’ Committee has organised several events, ranging from the traditional dinners to themed parties, and including trips to the Queima das Fitas celebrations in de Coimbra… we always try to think of new ideas and different events in order to attract the highest possible number of students. But of all the events, this was undoubtedly the most rewarding and the one we have enjoyed organizing the most.

The idea came shortly after reading the email Mané sent us in December to say goodbye. We were surprised at the news, which immediately aroused a feeling of nostalgia and strangeness. How could we stop receiving our exam grades at the wee hours?? Mané was the sort of person who cared about our anxiety and did not postpone into the next morning the exam grades list that she would send very late at night, as late as 1 am! And who else was going to send us an email encouraging us to have an opinion, get involved in politics, support strikes, and give us motherly advice? And how about the Medicine Evenings? They will definitely miss our Mané offering us good moments in one sketch or another.

Through the organizing process, we relied on those who better know her, her children. They told us about her preferred songs, came up with some photos of Mané and offered us all the necessary support. And so this is how the evening progressed, with a musical moment performed by the Choir of FMUL, the reading of some texts that Mané herself had written in the past, the telling of stories that meant a lot to her, a heartfelt speech by her children and a video that made her go back in time and remember some good moments.

We take this opportunity to thank all the students and Mané’s colleagues who made a point of being present, her children Agar and Leonardo, the choir of FMUL, Sofia Barreira for having prepared her beloved Beatles songs, and Maria Guilhermina for making it possible for us to have this dinner in the cafeteria.

We hope that we have achieved our goal with this dinner and to have shown Mané that her dedication throughout the years was not in vain. It had a deep impact on many students who studied at this faculty and we could not possibly allow you to retire without expressing our affection.

Mané, thank you for all the advice, for making us laugh, for the maps of the amphitheatres in the hospital and for all the “Helps”. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

(The Beatles, Abbey Road, 1969)