An emotional week in many ways.

Amanda and I, still firm friends nearly 40 years on! It was great to have you darling.<

Hi

This week has been marked by quite a few events. First Monday was the anniversary of the death of my amazing Mother on 1st October 1999. She will, of course, never be forgotten. Unfortunately only those of you who knew her will understand why I write “amazing”, because that’s what she was but her story will have to come another day. On Monday too we had a visit from my best friend from school, Amanda who was here until Friday for a girly visit and rest. The 2nd October was the first anniversary with my new company and I must say the job is going fine for the time being. Then there was the news about Gerardo’s passing away which hit me hard in the heart and you will understand why if you read my earlier post to him. And finally there was a reunion with his family on Friday which was probably the most emotional event I have experienced in quite some time.

But, in between work, Amanda and I had good fun too and spent a lot of time catching up on each other’s lives. She happily joined in our family routine for 4 days and did the shopping with the men on Thursday and went for a walk with us every night of her stay. She was impressed to see that we do it always, come rain or shine. She was a bit unlucky with the weather and, of course, had been expecting sunshine. Unfortunately it began to rain the moment she arrived and stopped the moment she left. There were some sunny intervals though where we enjoyed meals outside. Amanda loved Phoebe, as you will see from the pictures. But then who wouldn’t. Phoebe is just the most beautiful kitten ever to exist with her little blue eyes and wonderful Siamese type colouring. She loves people’s laps too. In the afternoon she will only go to Eladio’s and we all get jealous but in the morning any lap will do. Funny little thing she is!

Amanda and Phoebe one morning
One eventful outing was to Susana’s boyfriend’s house to give her dog Elsa some medicine. Elsa and her brother Quillo live there together and Elsa has just been neutered. The problem is that Quillo won’t leave her stitches alone and she has had to be restiched and then separated from Quillo in the garage for a week at least. They are so enthusiastic and were so pleased to see us, we had them both literally jumping right on top of us. We tried to take them for a walk which turned out to be mission impossible because of the barking from the other dogs in the neighbourhood.



The three of us had dinner out on Thursday and decided to go somewhere called Los Pescaitos which is usually too full at the weekend. It is an imitation Andaluz restaurant which mostly serves fish but it was actually pretty good. So we will be going back.

On Wednesday, as you know from my previous post, I heard about the passing away of Gerardo and, unable to attend the incineration, I went to see Pili, his wife on Friday afternoon together with Dolores.

That was some reunion. I hadn’t been to their flat for probably more than 8 years. And there, apart from Pili, I was to greet Lucía, her youngest daughter who is the replica of Catherine Z Jones and just like her older sister Irene when she was younger. Then Julieta arrived for the weekend. Julieta had been a bridesmaid at my wedding and is now nearly 40! It was lovely to see her. Finally Gerardo and his wife Vicky and 4 of their 5 amazing kids arrived: Vicky (12) , Ana (6) , Gerardo (5?) and little Irene (1). They were so alive and amusing and such fun, I had the little ones crawling all over me and repeating the behaviour of their Father and Aunts and Uncles when they were small and I was living with them. But, actually, I fell in love with them, the same as I did with the previous generation. I showed them my post to Gerardo and read it out in Spanish and it stirred a few tears from Pili and us all, of course.

Pili. We certainly cheered her up.

Lucía

Julieta
Seeing Gerardo, now aged 42 and a responsible Father of 5 took me back a bit. But I still saw the little boy in him and that lovely twinkle in his eye.

Gerardo and the kids.

Vicky and their youngest daughter Irene.
When we all left, we made the firm promise of holding a proper reunion and not letting so much time pass till we see each other again. I certainly intend to keep that promise.

After such an emotional week, the weekend has been quite lonely, specially because the girls went away. They have been to Ponferrada to visit one of their favourite cousins, Marta. From the multimedia messages I have received, it seems a grand time was had by all.

And finally to add to the emotion of things, I must just mention that my niece Sara who has been looking for a job in London after 2 years in China has finally landed a post with BBVA starting tomorrow. Congratulations Sarita and the best of luck from this page. And I also must mention that the F1 is not over as Hamilton did not classify in the Shanghai GP. There is now only one race left, Brasil next week and the standings are: Hamilton 107, Alonso 103 and Raikkonen 100. Who do you think will win? Place your bets ladies and gentlemen.

And here’s to this week coming up. Hope it’s a great one for you all.

Cheers/Masha

Goodbye Gerardo!

Hi,

When I came to Spain as a student some 29 years ago, I lived with a marvellous Spanish family called González Gálvez in a lovely flat in Madrid. I loved them then and I still love them now even though we haven’t kept up much over the years.

They are part of my past but also a part of my life in many ways.

There was Gerardo the Father, always cheerful smiling, very handsome and someone who lived life to the absolute full. There is Pili, his wife who is indescribable. The only adjective that comes to mind is “endearing”. She is the heart of the family. Pili taught Chemistry at the same school as José Antonio and Dolores and it was thanks to Dolores that I went to live with them.

Gerardo and Pili, a successful good looking couple had 4 children, Gerardo, Irene, Julieta and Toti (Alberto) when I went to live with them. Part of the deal was teaching Gerardo and Irene English every day. It turned out to be mission impossible as the kids enjoyed their time hiding from me or locking me up in the bathroom. However we got on famously and I became very close to them all; so much so that they have been in my heart and mind always even if we don’t see each other so often.

When I first fell in love with Eladio who was a priest at the time, they accepted us with open arms. In fact they were probably the main guests at our wedding after my family and the 2 daughters, Irene and Julieta, were my bridesmaids. They also put up some of my guests, including my dearest friend Amanda who they also knew from her visit to their house when I was living with them. Amanda got on famously with them all too. It was their car which, driven by dear Gerardo, was used to take me the church on my wedding day. And Gerardo, a cookie monster when he was 13, is now the proud Father of 5 children!

Then when I was pregnant with Susana, Pili became pregnant too, very late in life and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Lucía, just a few months after me. Very, very unfortunately darling Pili became blind afterwards. It must have been a nightmare for her and a great difficulty in life still. I will never forget when I went to see her at the time. She opened the door, looked at me and asked me who I was? I said, “Pili, I’m Masha can’t you see me?” to which she replied, “No, I can’t but you just tell me who you are and I will hug you”. That brought a few tears to my eyes and still does, even as I am writing this.

And I am writing this post today because yesterday they rang me to tell me that Gerardo had passed away on Tuesday night after fighting an aggressive lung cancer. He was only 69 and too young to die and leave his wonderful wife a widow. I cannot get them out of my thoughts and so many memories come back.

As I wrote to Pili in a text message yesterday I have only good memories of Gerardo. He was a great enthusiast of life and his family. He was successful, he was generous, he was witty and he was handsome. He had a smile constantly on his face and above all he had a knack of making people feel welcome. My parents came to visit me when I lived with them and not only did they invite them for dinner, but Gerardo took my Father out on a couple of occasions. He took him to a Real Madrid match and to his golf club, both of which my Father will never forget.

He was a true gentleman and will be much missed by his family and friends but he will never be forgotten.

Goodbye Gerardo. Enjoy your beer and “marisco” up there, smile down at us and why not light up a cigarette and enjoy it now you can.

It was a pleasure to have known you.

Forever Masha