The Franchy Family
by Vivianna Franchy, Top Producer Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty
Our family’s journey reflects a common narrative of seeking better opportunities and a safer environment due to challenging circumstances in our home country. The impact of terrorism in Peru during the late 20th century was significant, causing many families of all sorts of backgrounds to reassess their futures and make the difficult decision to relocate.
The first to venture out was my sister Rosamaria, the second of my three siblings. As it became evident that the situation in Lima was declining, she decided to move to California to attend college and complete her studies in hospitality management.
At that time, I was working for my father’s company after having graduated from the University of Lima as an engineer. However, it became clear two years after my sister left for San Diego that I too would need to leave Lima in search of a safer environment for me and my future family. I had the opportunity to apply to the MBA program at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, so I left Lima in 1988, just a day after I married my Peruvian fiancé and the future father of my son Andrew, who would come a few years later upon our arrival to Miami.
The two years I spent in Texas were wonderful. We felt and experienced firsthand the great southern hospitality, and I fell in love with this country and its contrasts. We met amazing people, loved Tex-Mex food and enjoyed the vast flatness of a unique state.
Graduation time arose, and it was time to move on from this college town. I considered moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which was a great hub for good paying jobs and a chance to immerse myself in big city life again.
However, all those plans were abandoned when Rosamaria and I heard that my two youngest siblings were leaving Lima too. And where were they going? Well, my sister Luisa applied to the University of Miami to obtain a second degree in economics; and Pedro, who was about to finish engineering school in Lima, was admitted to the MBA program at UM.
The decision to designate Miami as a central meeting point for our family was obvious and decided amongst ourselves on a three-way call between me in Lubbock, Rosamaria in La Jolla, and Luisa already in Miami. Miami seemed the logical choice for many reasons, and our agreement, with little hesitation, showed our commitment to maintaining close ties with our Latin heritage and to become once again the close family we had always been.
This decision became even easier for all when my father “discovered” Key Biscayne and bought a second home for him and mom at The Oceansound, which Luisa and eventually Pedro occupied permanently while studying at UM. It was 1992, and all of us siblings were back together again.
My husband and I rented a small apartment in Brickell and fell so in love with Key Biscayne that a year later we moved to Key Colony’s Botanica. Eventually mom and dad left Lima permanently and we all began our amazing, beautiful life together in Key Biscayne.
Andrew, my son, was born in 1992. He attended Key Biscayne Community School for a few years and then transferred to St. Agnes Academy. He ultimately went to high school at Belen Jesuit Preparatory School. He headed to Boston, graduated from Babson College with a BA in business, and has lived in New York since 2014.
Incidentally, my sister Luisa had met her soon-to-be-husband Franco, also Peruvian, in Miami shortly before she had decided to apply to graduate school at Babson College, where she obtained her MBA. Nowadays they continue living in Key Biscayne and have two beautiful kids, Gonzalo and Andrea. Like Andrew, they were born and raised in Key Biscayne.
My brother Pedro, after graduating with an MBA from UM, returned to Peru, got married and had a beautiful daughter, Camilla. She is currently studying international relations at The Leiden University in The Hague, Netherlands. Every time we all get together here, in Peru, or anywhere in the world, we all have a ton of fun.
As our family continues the growth of its second generation of Americans with children born and raised in Miami, this marks a continuation of our legacy, blending the rich cultural heritage from Lima, Peru, with the opportunities and experiences offered in the United States.
The story of our family is not unique at all, but indeed the story of many families. It is a powerful narrative of love, adaptation, and the enduring strength of familial bonds across borders, most of which continue to be stressed to us by our beautiful mother, still living in Key Biscayne and reminding us of the importance of family, no matter where you are.
