My Family After Tragedy

The most difficult part of learning a new language is the little words , the hidden and subtle meanings.  Sometimes the interpretations of the usage of these little words are not collected in encyclopedias or dictionaries; one needs to learn them as time goes on.   These little words have bitten me in the rear many times!  For instance, the first time I went for dinner with Christina's parents, her mother had prepared a dinner fit for royalty, nothing but fabulous.  There were several courses, and everything was prepared with great care.  To top things off, the entire family was there, I am guessing that they wanted to meet this Cuban screwball dating Christina. "So Jose, what do you think of the dinner?  Do you like it?" -her mother asked me, and instantly I became the focus of attention of the entire table; everyone was looking at me. "Oh yes, It's pretty good!" Yikes!  The expression in everyone's faces was like - " What? " - it was har...

Christina was easy to love. Everyone who knew her felt it, and so did I. She had a radiance about her, as if life was lighter in her presence. Maybe that’s why heaven called her too soon. I still protest that—because for me, our time together was not enough. I wanted her to stay. It was the summer of 1998. Christina and I had been living together for almost three years in an apartment we rented in Burnaby, not far from Simon Fraser University, where she worked as a Co-op Coordinator. It was also my last year working as a chemist. At the time, I was employed by a small research company based at Vancouver General Hospital. It was a struggling startup with no clear future, unlikely to survive another round of financing. I needed something more stable to support us, so I was sending résumés to pharmaceutical companies across Ontario and Quebec. Each evening, when I got home, the first thing I did was check the answering machine, hoping to hear “the message”—that one call that could change ...

  I think that Simon Fraser University (SFU), the Burnaby campus, is truly a beautiful place.  For me, it is special because I met Christina there and it was like discovering a new galaxy! After Christina obtained her Master of Science in Chemistry, she got a job at SFU working as a Co-op Coordinator helping science students find employment in the local industry.  Christina really enjoyed her job and she was able to find employment for her students not only in British Columbia but all over Canada.  She was very successful for many reasons: she was smart, learned, gorgeous looking, big smile, great diction. When she started to work for the Co-op Department her coworkers were all female and have to confess that they were all very good looking; like "Charlie's Angels"!  Every time I visited her office I made sure I behaved like an "English Gentleman"; amicable but business-like.  I am always like that, but had to make sure that when I visited "The Boss" a...

During these past seven months, I had time to think about the years invested in the company of my wife.  We had good and bad days but even in days that seemed dark we had time to embrace, feel the connection; we never lost that. My wife's condition, Glioblastoma, caused her mood and personality changes that I was not able to recognize as something very serious and instead attributed them to work stress, our finances, the environment of the  XXI century, politics, etc.  I regret that I did not pay attention to those changes and was not capable to see beyond the "curve".  If I had, perhaps that would have given her a few more months, or years, with us, better quality of life, so much more! Christina always wanted to visit France.  I used to tease her and tell her "Christina, I do not know where that fascination that you have with Frenchmen comes from!  It must be that they elongate their lips to talk as if wanting to kiss you.  I believe you wanted to m...