Seven Gray T-shirts

DISCLAIMER: this is my first attempt at this and google keeps defaulting to spanish so please be understanding and we'll hope it improves as time goes by.

Here is the quick version of how we ended up in Guatemala today and the events of 2011 that led us here. My father-in-law died in February at the age of 88. While he "rode it hard and put it up wet" as my wife says, it was still an emotional and difficult thing to deal with as I assume most deaths are. Let's fast forward to the first week in May when my wife finds out on a Wednesday that her position is being eliminated. That will hit you in the gut. And we spent a couple days not sure what to think or what we would do or how could we ever cope with the enormity of the 'tragedy' which had befallen us. Well, perspective hit us smack in the face three days later when we learned that a friend had died of a heart attack the night before. Forty-four years old. Had even been checked out the morning of his death by a doctor. It sucked. It still sucks.

The only joy was in a celebration of his life in June. His wife gathered an incredible visual record of his life giving a glimpse into a person who, as described in his obituary, was: an accomplished sculptor, musician, educator, poet, author, athlete, carpenter, fisherman, gardener, photographer, environmentalist, chef, winemaker, world traveler, dreamer, visionary, and hero to all who knew and loved him; the true definition of a Renaissance Man.

You can read an excellent article about one aspect of him here. At one point in his life, D decided to buy seven gray t-shirts and that would be his wardrobe. It was a statement about our obsession with labels and consumerism but just as important, it was a declaration of a life of simplicity. When some people read or hear that word, simplicity, they conflate it with boring. Well, D was anything but boring. The second celebration of his life (yeah, he was too amazing for one to suffice and allow all the people he touched to attend so K thoughtfully and thankfully had a second one) was in mid-June and it was inspiring to be reminded of what a life well lived and lived fully looked like. A week later, my position was eliminated. At least I could see that one coming.

So we decided to simplify our lives and get back to living what was important to us. Our language skills had deteriorated  since our language immersion as Peace Corps Volunteers in Paraguay and the jobs that hold the most interest require a higher level of fluency. How to get those skills back? What could be better than heading to one of our favorite countries since our first visit 20 years ago. And that is how we ended up hopping on a plane this morning (thank you dusty frequent flier miles!), taking a taxi to Antigua, having dinner at La Fonda Calle Real and the writing of this blog. We will attempt to share stories of life down here to keep everyone up to date and maybe inspire some of you to hop on a plane and come visit.