CXXX. Mauricio Se Fue

Mauricio Is Gone

My dear friend Mauricio has passed away. For four years he was my boss at the Lake Chapala Society garden and we always exchanged enthusiastic greetings when I came there weekly to volunteer: “Mi amigo, Mauricio!” I’d shout. “Mi amigo, Tomás. Qué tomas, Tomás? (What are you drinking?)” Then we’d make more silly jokes together as he explained what was on his mind. While working he would often tell me the uses of different plants, and would come by to offer help and company...

I always felt encouraged to try out my poor Spanish with Mauricio, and our bond didn’t suffer at all from the lack of a shared language. With him you were never far away from another chance to make a joke, laugh or share a smile…

Mauricio was a long distance trail runner and proud of his proficiency. His secret, he confided, was that he didn’t run, he flew. For one race I gave him a new pair of running shoes that no longer fit, but he wore them out while gardening: I guess with the flying he didn’t need new shoes to compete. I gave him some extra carving tools and he gave me one of his carvings—he was always working on a piece of wood he had found, and was happy to show it off…

Mauricio’s nickname was El Pato—The Duck—but I didn’t see that in him; he was much spryer than my image of a waddling duck, more like a monkey, El Mono, with a wide mischievous streak, swinging from tree to tree. He had a posse of dogs he’d adopted—a short-haired white blond, Paloma, was his favorite—whom he would take up to his farm plot in the mountains. We made many plans to go up there together but they stayed plans…

Mauricio will remain an endearing and enlivening presence, always pictured in my mind wearing his crinkly-eyed smile. This life is a poorer place without him. We’ll each have to be a little more our best selves to make up for his loss, but at least we have another strong ally in the wider world.