Community

Family Farewell in Paradise
By Robert Foulkes

When the Segovia sisters, Martha, Lupita and Marie-Antoinette were standing on my patio on Thursday, it was more that a pleasant surprise, as they normally only visit Zihuatanejo during high days and holidays. Having just flown in from Mexico City, their immediate task was to make arrangements for a special occasion, the reason for them being here.

Their 87-years-old father, Sr. Antonio Segovia, had passed away after a sudden, short illness. It was his wish that his ashes be cast upon the waters of Zihuatanejo, his final resting place. The Segovias have been vacationing in Zihuatanejo for over forty years. The sisters’ request of me was that I should help them make this last wish a reality. Nothing is too difficult to make happen when we have friends around us. And a good friend of mine is Capitan Raul Gutierrez, who owns the m/v “Champagne”, a 31-foot Bertram. Two phone calls later and everything was in hand.

At 5.00pm on the following Saturday, Martha, Lupita, May and their only brother, Antonio, together with two friends, boarded “Champagne.” The ebbing of the tide was complete, leaving the waters at the municipal pier very low, but Capitan Raul’s colleague made sure that everyone was safely aboard, before the boat was cast off. Having performed similar ceremonies in the past, Capitan Raul knew exactly what to do and what was needed for this ultimately traumatic occasion. On the outward journey around the bay, smiles and happy chatter accompanied appraisal of the fast-changing landscape on the surrounding hillsides. A wedding, the commencement of a new life together for a newly-wedded couple, was taking place on the beach at La Ropa.

By 5.45pm, “Champagne” was way out on the deserted ocean, with not another boat in sight and with the sun about to depart over the horizon to the West; two signs of respect perhaps! Circling back towards the Black Rock, the four Segovia’s gathered closely together, as the tranquility and poignancy of the moment drew them together.

And almost as though the ocean understood this very moment too, it offered up a sailfish, which rose out of the deep and made several leaps not too far away from the boat. Nature knows. Presently, with the sun setting in all her majesty, Capitan Raul hove-to close to the rock and the four Segovias complied with their father’s last wish by scattering his ashes onto the water, accompanied by a wreath. Needless to say, with the final realization that their father had just become a personal memory for each one of them, Martha, Lupita, May and Antonio held each other in tight embrace, totally unable to hold back the tears, as they grieved together for the loss of a dear father.

Time eventually to move on and made so much more poignant with the new moon looking down over the silent waters, the floating ashes, the wreath and the guardian Black Rock. It is said that we come into this world of ours without anything and leave it in a likewise manner. Not quite true, when the ultimate resting place is here outside the bay of Zihuatanejo and the final farewell is bid by loving children for their adored father.

If you have a Zihua story you would like to share, send it to Another Day in Paradise info@adip.info

Previous | Next