“THE MAN WHO LEARNED TO FIX BROKEN THINGS… BECAUSE NO ONE WANTED TO FIX HIM”
His name was Julián Herrera.
Since he was a child, things would break around him, and no one would repair them.
A broken toy remained broken.
A bicycle with a fallen chain would be forgotten in a corner.
A torn pair of pants ended up in the trash.
And sometimes, he would break inside as well.
Something hurt him, and he wouldn't say it.
His spirits would fail him, and he would stay silent.
He soon learned that there was no time in his home to fix a sad child.
So he started to repair what he could.
He would tape the toys together.
He soldered old wires patiently.
He sewed the pants with mismatched thread.
He became an expert in rescuing what others had given up for lost.
Over the years, he set up a small workshop in his neighborhood.
People would bring him things: an iron that no longer heated, a family heirloom watch that didn’t work, a fan that no one believed could be fixed.
Julián received them carefully.
He looked at them like one looks at an injured friend.
And he repaired them.
Sometimes for free. Sometimes for a few coins.
He didn’t do it for money.
He did it because he knew what it felt like to be broken… and to have no one want to fix you.
He would always say:
—Broken things are not trash. They are just something that needs time and someone who doesn’t give up.
When he died, his workshop was filled with restored objects.
A neighborhood boy approached the small sign on the door and read it aloud:
“Here we repair what haste broke.”
And some swore that if you listened closely, you could still hear Julián saying from the back of the workshop:
—Broken pieces speak to me more beautifully than new ones.
