The long GoodBye to Marcos

**bill_bly_ca** · 02-21-2021, 10:55 AM

Marcos, Chilo's older brother, has been diagnosed with Liver Cancer. He is planned for round 2 chemo around Mar 13. Daniel thinks he won't make it to round 2.

This is something I did know until Wed, and it appears Chilo did not know, or know the severity, until Wed afternoon. Chilo showed me a photo with the 4 siblings in Nicaragua (Edward, Marcos, Marta, and Daniel) and Marcos was shockingly gaunt.

I went searching for any hopes for flights for her and Herminia (6th eldest) and did find a Toronto, PTY, SJO one way for next Thursday after 10 hours of poking searches. Chilo is deathly afraid of US immigration and US airport complexity so the route had to be with a L-A hop.

Oscar and Herminia (Chilo's older sister) came to the house Friday evening for a long discussion and it was decided that she/they wold not make the trip.

So video chats are planned for the next few weeks for the long good buy.

It is quite overwhelming for Chilo as at the same time her youngest brother - David - was discharged yesterday from a local long term hospital for his second stroke in 18 months @ 50 YOA

Later today we will be dropping off a walker and some groceries to David.

**KeyWestPirate** · 02-21-2021, 05:58 PM

I'm sorry to hear that.
I lost my younger son unexpectedly ten years ago.

He went quickly too,, maybe a year total. We had just bought the farm, and I didn't return to Nicaragua for two years

I gave the seller a carta de poder to watch the place for me, and paid him $350 each year to keep it cut down.
He took the carta de poder as an invitation to cut the more valuable trees, and run some cattle.

The "good cancer" bit me in 2008-09, and although I was never afraid of dying, I was afraid of many of the treatment outcomes. I found a great surgeon who had dated Shelley's gynecologist at some point >>> "great surgeon,, terrible bedside manner" was her description. And St Alphonsus in Boise had just sprung for a Da Vinci Surgical Robot. I got very lucky: I can no longer go forth and multiply, but I can do everything else.

I feel bad for Marcos. You can live without a prostate, and even live with a less than optimal treatment outcome, but you sure as hell can't live without a liver.

This COVID travel fear is overrated,, I think. Shelley and I are going to drive to Mexico with the transmission from my Ford F250 in her newly C4 plated Mahindra, and I will drive back with her, then continue on to the US. She could come back herself but she is understandably anxious

It's our first experience driving in a C4 plated vehicle through CA. Supposed to be very simple,, no permits required. I know a guy in Tapachula,, worked in the US mucho tiempo, and bought a really nice, cyclone fenced parking establishment in Tapachula as his retirement rice bowl. I'll leave the Blue Ford F150 there, while I dip back south to Nicaragua, then bus back up. Possible the worst part of driving south is all the permits required to transit CA as a tourist. Money is small,, but it's time consuming. The distance is not much from Nicaragua to Mexico, and the roads get better every year.

Shelley then gets another 90 days.
Migracion is becoming difficult here, 30 day extensions now cost 900 cords, in Estelí you have to drop off your passport and return for it in a week.

My point:
It's not as hard to get here as it was. People are flying back and forth without issue. A friend came in from Tennesee three weeks ago,, is leaving the end of February. He toured San Salvador during his 12 hour airport layover.

We really had no problem with COVID driving down.

**bill_bly_ca** · 02-22-2021, 10:46 AM

Marcos is the one who made the most of staying behind through the 80's .

He did a bit of work in Huston in the early 90's and was back in Managua by the mid 90's

He worked for INCAE for a good 15 yrs , maybe 20, as an assistant to the school and then worked another 6 or 7 years past retirement doing administration at one of the ice plants in Managua.

My first exposure to the Nica legal process was via Marcos both with the assumption of eldest Sister's house transfer to his name (she passed away in 1996) With all of Carman's children signing off on the transfer. and Then all of Chilo's sibblings signing off on the Compound remaining in Rosa's name (MIL Rosa) who passed away in 2004.

Plugging in Chilo's phone for charge this morning, an hour before going to work, it pops up with a good 20 messages from Marcos.

Daniel said Marcos had showed up expectedly at our build in Jan - I am guessing now he wanted to see what little sis was up to ..

Marcos is the BIL who boasted he could get me my residency, and even citizenship in a month if I wanted, he does (did?) have a lot of connections through INCAE so it may have been true.