During the past few days we have had one situation after another, and I have abandoned my several readers. Some have inquired about this absence. To start, the daughter came down with her daughters and husband for a pleasant stay. Almost immediately upon departure back to Central Texas, my father-in-law began a decline in health. he is ninety years of age, a veteran of the African Campaign....Rommel, Patton, and so forth. He is a virtuous and industrious man who has left the wood-pile much higher than how he found it.
In any regard, he became very weak and a bit feverish. During an interview with a nurse who is contracted to my in-laws' GP, his symptoms became more marked. Finally, it became obvious that he could not be treated at home, and an ambulance was summoned. We literally could not un-stiffen him sufficiently to fit him into any of our autos, SUV's, or any conveyance. In short order he was transported to emergency in our hometown.
Then began the vigils, of course, with my mother-in-law providing most of the vigilance, followed by my wife, and then, least of all, your humble servant. The service at the hospital has been mediocre to excellent.
My father-in-law, however, because of attorneys, has been poked, stabbed, radiated, irradiated, and otherwise subjected to discomforts to the extent that it makes one wonder if it would not be best just to let him rest with a bit of some kind of synthetic opium. He is ninety years old. He helped save the world from a madman. Let him rest.
In the meantime, the cartel thugs murdered the candidate of the centrist Partido Revolucionario Institutional (PRI) for the position of Governmor of the State of Tamaulipas. He was one of the closest chums of our frequently cited neighbour who owns the Hacienda de la Vega pictured in our webpage article. Although our neighbour is a member of the conservative Partido de Accion Nacional (PAN), he and his friend Dr. Rodolfo Torres Cantu' remained good friends up until the day before yesterday when the Doctor was gunned down as he was leaving Cd. Victoria on his way to a last campaign swing in the northern cities of Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, and Matamoros. The election law requires that all campaigning stop three days before the "comisios", which take place beginning at 08:00 on Sunday, the 4th of July.
We are now waiting to see what is going to happen. The Doctor was very much in the lead...6 to 3 to 1....and his election as a PRI candidate in a very PRI State was all but assured. Perhaps the election will be held and the State Congress will name a governor from an internal selection by the State and National Executive Committees of the PRI. For right now, it is in the air.
Our neighbour is bereft, as is his family. He is one of the main celebrants of the "actos funebres"....rather much like being a pall-bearer in the US. He is also a Godfather of one of the Doctor's children.
For those who read Spanish, this is my neighbour's eloquently worded advisory about the next matter,
"Efectivamente antes del fin de semana acudio con Ciro para fletear una madera, simbro y coloco un nuevo cargador que se habia vencido..no hubo mas problema. Estamos en espera de la tormenta o Huracan para este jueves, por lo que era necesario reparar..se que Paco fue su asistente le avise del deposito que le haras y en la mediada de lo posible acudire a visitarle...hoy todo el dia me tomo los servicios funebres de mi Amigo, pero si el tiempo me da marcho para alla...tu no te preocupes..Saludos!"
For those who read Spanish, this is my neighbour's eloquently worded advisory about the next matter,
"Efectivamente antes del fin de semana acudio con Ciro para fletear una madera, simbro y coloco un nuevo cargador que se habia vencido..no hubo mas problema. Estamos en espera de la tormenta o Huracan para este jueves, por lo que era necesario reparar..se que Paco fue su asistente le avise del deposito que le haras y en la mediada de lo posible acudire a visitarle...hoy todo el dia me tomo los servicios funebres de mi Amigo, pero si el tiempo me da marcho para alla...tu no te preocupes..Saludos!"
While this disaster is taking place, we also have a hurricane bearing down on the entire area where we all are. We were conducting a bit of repairs on the Quinta which were just finished. My neighbour supervised the matter from a close distance so as not to offend my mayordomo, Alvaro. They get along quite well, thank goodness. It is worth noting that my neighbour had time to give to me even as he was mired into this assassination matter and the attendant funereal duties. The preceding Spanish-language paragraph speaks to these issues.
My brother-in-law, his wife, and my sister-in-law have now all arrived on the scene here in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, and that will go a long way into helping my father-in-law, and spelling my wife and mother-in-law. Both my brother's wife and my wife have considerable medical experience and this has be very helpful, as well.
