My great Aunt Martha passed away this morning. It wasn't unexpected and she was eighty-four but we will miss her nonetheless.
I didn't meet my mom's aunt until I was around eleven years old because she lived in Medellin, Colombia (Yes, the home of Pablo Escobar and the drug cartels, if you watch Entourage). In my family we always called them "The Colombians". It was Aunt Martha and her husband Tommy, her daughter Martha Inez and her husband Billio and thir sons Juan and Jose. They came to visit one Christmas and it was like aliens had come to visit. Billio and the boys only spoke Spanish (except Juan and Jose could say Rice Crispies and Coca-Cola). But it didn't matter because Aunt Martha talked enough for everyone.
Aunt Martha had an interesting life. She was raised in Clarksburg, West Virginia, a pretty small town (but bigger than Salem, where my Grandmother's side of the family came from). She was the middle child, my Grandfather was the oldest and her other brother Tom was the youngest. She went to the hospital during World War II for a medical condition (my grandma can't remember what it was but she's eighty-seven so we forgive her) where she met dashing Tommy Duarte, the son of wealthy South American landowners who was in the U.S. for treatment for polio. They married, against my Great-Grandmother's wishes (apparently her wish was that all of her children remain single and lived with her their entire lives...none of them followed her wishes). Apparently it wasn't bad enough that Tommy Duarte was South American but he was also, gasp, Catholic. But Martha loved Tommy and she converted to Catholicism. Her mother did not attend the wedding. They got married and had a daughter, Martha Inez. Soon after they moved to Colombia. While Tommy was actually from Venezuela, his family owned many plantations in Colombia and they setted in Baranquilla, Colombia. I'm not sure when they moved to Medellin but they were living there when they came to visit us. Aunt Martha taugh English at a local college and Martha Inez's husband, Billio, was a respected dentist and college professor.
The 1990's brought great turmoil to Colombia (again, those infamous drug cartels) and living in Medellin became a very dangerous place. Even when we were little, Aunt Martha was amazed at the freedom my brother and I were allowed, since children didn't play unsupervised (it was the 1980's and we could wander our streets freely, as long as we were home when the streetlights came on, something that today seems like less of a good idea). Children left unsupervised in the late eighties and early nineties in Colombia were kidnapped by the cartels and held for ransom. Billio was kidnapped, held for three days and released to die in the jungles of Colombia. Bandits on motorcycles snatched the necklace from Aunt Martha's neck while she was driving her car in traffic. Uncle Tommy would go to the college with her and wait in the car while she taught class so that she wouldn't be alone and a target for thieves or worse. Finally the American consulate recommended that order was beyond their contorl and our Colombian relatives came to live in the U.S. (Matha, Matha Inez, Juan and Jose all being U.S. citizens). They came to live in Las Vegas but life was far harder in the U.S. They had to leave a lot of money and land and valuables behind and while Billio was a respected doctor in Colombia, in the states he had to find work as a dishwasher. They eventually decided to move to Louisville, Kentucky.
I will always remember Aunt Martha as a robust woman who wore shoes that were way too small. (Why is it heavy women still insist they have a size five foot? Her shoes looked soooo uncomfortable. Not me, give me a pair of size tens and pass the cookies.) She talked constantly and would finish your sentances for you, everyone's, not matter who was talking. I will remember her generosity, she was always willing to help out no matter what. I will remember her love of family, and how she cared for her family above everything else. I will remember her tutoring me through college Spanish ( Thank goodness for Aunt Martha, I wouldn't have passed without her. I got a C, which was not her fault, I just suck at grammar, even though Aunt Martha praised my accent as perfect.) I will remember the giant diamond ring she wore and when she cooked us filet mignon with peas cooked in lettuce and the pendant she bought me that first Christmas which was gold with a flower basket woven in gold and semi-stones as the flowers and the basket weaving spelled out the word "mother" but I don't think she noticed and I never told her. (I also never wore the pendant, sorry.) She was an amazing woman and someone who's presence always seemed larger than life. I can't believe she's gone but her last year was one where she was in pain and I truly believe she is in a better place. Heaven today is a bit brighter and a whole lot more talkative.
My thoughts and prayers are with the whole Rincon-Duarte family. I love you all.
My friend Jimmy lost his dad yesterday. My thoughts and prayers are with him as well. It's a difficult thing to lose a beloved family member. No words can express how truly sorry I am. My condolences.
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