Tom's sisters Paula (me) Lisa, Lisa's husband Paul, and Tom's nephews Daniel and Woody, went to Mexico to be where Tom had been. and to sort things out. We were there just 4 days but it seemed like weeks. A lot happened, in an effort to get something posted, and make it easier to read, i will break it into daily reports.
We got off the plane around 3pm Saturday March 13, in Puerto Vallarta and found that the airport and the Hertz rental car (our first stop) were on the 200. The 200 is the 2 lane highway where the accident took place. So we felt we had landed right in the thick of it. Here is a picture somewhere on the 200.
We went straight to the funeral home. We got his ashes. We were surprised to also get the contents of his pockets. We thought the DA had all his belongings. It was very touching to see the contents spill out of a bag. Especially the crumpled papers and his harmonica. Tom's nephew Woodrow is fluent in Spanish. It was great to have him along and to watch him confidently converse
with everyone everywhere we went. He also was able to translate all the documents we encountered. He learned just where the accident happened and off we went.
I have to run- watch for the conclusion of day one soon- p
I remember being so young and small and Papa being so tall and big. When he lifted me up in his arms or on his shoulders- I felt like a giant, like I was riding a wild animal.
ReplyDeleteI remember his explosive, percussive voice, sometimes a low hum. I do not remember all of the words he spoke. I do remember many great ideas, many theories about life, people, his clever mind, curious mind, observant mind.
David and I saw Papa most of our childhood, Thursdays or Tuesdays and weekend days. We took a couple trips to Hawaii and Mexico- and of course Disneyland and Great America. Also a few camping trips. Our weekly time we spent lots of time driving. Squished in his car, stopping here, stopping there, meeting this person, meeting that person. He always wanted us to meet people and for them to meet us. We went to the beach for sunset a lot and watched a lot of movies. We ate out almost every meal- McDonalds, Sushi, Burritos, and pizza, except for the couple times I can remember him cooking spaghetti and pesto. We would go boogie boarding on the weekends, I would ride on his back for the big waves-which were most.
I remember his laugh, the weight of his on our shoulders, the feeling of being in his presence and not knowing which way he was going to turn, we were going to turn. Like being on his back, a wild animal, sometimes slow, mostly fast, always surprising. Like Life.