One Friday night, Fidel received a message on Facebook, asking if his cousin could come and visit him the next day. Of course, he could, and early Saturday morning we welcomed Fidel’s uncle, cousin and nephew who had come from Totonicapan for a visit.
Fidel was so excited he just about jumped out of his chair. It had been more than ten years since he had had a visit from anyone in his family! He had been in contact with his sister, who lives in the US, through Facebook, but never imagined his family would visit.
During the visit, Fidel’s uncle shared with me that they had been told that Fidel had died in the orphanage. When he showed up on Facebook, they couldn’t believe it was him. In fact, they admitted that part of the reason for their visit was to find out if it was really him, or someone impersonating him who would then try to extort money from the family. It never occurred to me that this would be a concern for them, but, knowing the conditions in Guatemala, it is more than reasonable for them to think this. They were overjoyed to find out that he not only was, in fact, alive, but living where he is well cared for and loved.
His mother, Fidel’s sister, is in the US.
We had a wonderful time visiting with the three of them. Fidel’s nephew, who was nine years old, couldn’t understand what was wrong with his uncle, so I was able to explain a bit about cerebral palsy to him. Fidel’s uncle, especially, kept repeating, “You mean his mind is okay? His mind is normal?” It was such fun to share with them all the things that Fidel is able to do in spite of his physical limitations. Fidel beamed with pride as we talked about him.
While I had hoped his family would begin to take an interest in him, I never imagined that they would want to become involved in his life again. They are unable to care for him themselves, but you could see their concern for him. They brought him a few small gifts, including a new set of clothes, and gifted him with some spending money.
Though I offered for them to spend the night, they said they needed to return to Totonicapan quickly, because they had commitments the next day. They had traveled more than six hours by bus during the night, just to see Fidel. And they were making the return trip after only a few short hours of visiting with them. I hope they can stay longer next time, and we promised to keep in touch by phone.
It was a good day!
No comments:
Post a Comment