Each time I open up a box and peek inside a new set of memories come flooding over me. It seems only fitting that I should find a book titled Reminiscencias when I opened up one of the last boxes.
For the past several weeks, Terry and I have been moving cosas from a pricey storage unit in Victoria, Tx to the new-to-us house in the country. I say "pricey" storage because when you multiply $130/mo. by 6 years the cost to hang on to stuff was rather expensive. But how do you put a price on "knick knack paddy whacks"? That was what we started labeling every box 6 years ago when we ran out of words to describe the contents....we were numb from the excitement and stress of neatly packing our lives into cubic ft. containers in preparation for making our leap aboard S/V Cool Change.
In the boxes, I've found envelopes with baby teeth meant for the tooth fairy, some of my favorite pictures of three of the most darling kids you could ever imagine, lots of printed, hand-written Mother's Day cards, and even a rock collection that at one time included a beautiful piece of amber we spent hours searching for in every rock shop west of Texas while vacatoning in Santa Fe, NM. But also amongst the normal items that make one look off into space and reminisce, I found a connection to Mexico long before we started our part-time living in Mexico. It was a book appropriately titled Reminiscencias, written by Jorge Santiago of Victoria, Tx.
The connection begins like this --- While in Merida, I always regretted missing "El Dia de Los Muertos"...The Day of the Dead. It may sound morbid to some, but it is the day set aside to honor the dead and celebrate their eternal spirit. Food plays a big part in the celebration when the deceased favorite foods are prepared and presented at the alters set aside for honoring them. I love the Catrina dolls associated with the the holiday. I see them all over Merida and they are one of my inspirations for painting. El Dia de Los Muertos is a National Holiday celebrated on November 1st and 2nd all over Mexico.
Back in the late 1990's I didn't have a clue I would regret missing out on "El Dia de Los Muertos" in Mexico in 2013. And, I never dreamed I would be remiscing about Jorge Santiago while sitting on the back patio in Merida, Mexico. You see, I had a huge fiasco on my professional hands when I refused to let Sr. Santiago bring an exhibit into the lobby of the bank. He approached me wanting to put a "Dayof the Dead" exhibit directly in the middle of the bank lobby. He explained that the large community of Mexican descendants would love it, embrace it, and understand it. He thought it would be good for public relations. As the person responsible for making those types of judgement calls on behalf of the bank, I thought otherwise. "The Day of the Dead" sounded eerie, freaky, and morbid to me. Who wanted to come into a bank in South Texas to be greeted by a Celebration of Death? Well, it turned into a rather sticky situation. Mr. George Santiago was not happy with me. I had to use all of my charm, and muchos apologies, to keep from offending Mr. George Santiago. He took his case to Mr. G., CEO & Bank President, where he was told it was ultimately my area of expertise and thus, my decision...which really meant Mr. G would rather not get involved. So, Mr. Santiago and I sat at the conference table in the Marketing Dept. and discussed our differences of opinion. He gave me a thorough education on "The Day of the Dead", and I was a willing student. I didn't allow the exhibit in the lobby of the bank, but Mr. George Santiago and I became very good friends. We developed mutual respect for each other from that point forward. He brought me a "peace offering" of such - two books he had written. One of them was titled Reminiscencias. Each time we would meet in the bank lobby we would embrace.
Reminiscencias by Sr. Jorge Santiago got packed up in a box labeled knick knack paddy whacks and I never thought about it until sitting in Merida this past trip where I did some reminiscing of my own about Sr. Santiago. And, I sat there and wondered if I still had the book packed away in storage. Then, yesterday I found it while unpacking and reminiscing about so many things...it's a collection of poems written in both English and Spanish...they are about love and lost love....very poignant. So this is to you, Sr. Jorge Santiago, for touching my life in a way I haven't come to appreciate until 12 years later -
The English version of "Incertidumbre"
"Uncertainty"
by Jorge Santiago
I thought to distance myself fast
and I went far away
having perplexed thoughts
and I made a foolish error.
Now I wanted to talk to her
but my honor got in the way.
With good counseling,
again I tried to forget her.
Then I heard she was still waiting for me.
But now the opportune time had passed.
This even discouraged me greatly.
"What can I do?" I questioned myself,
I wanted to be at her side fiercely,
but my foolish honor was prohibiting it.
