Spanish & English literary work by London-based translator and writer Fátima López Sevilla. (http://fatimalopezsevilla.com)
Last Saturday, on my way to Brighton, I learnt about the passing of my grandfather, my dad’s father.
He’s the one I talk about when explaining why I chose an owl, why my love for these little smart winged guys.
He’s the tuco.
As they are so far away, I only had the chance to meet all my grandparents in person the couple of times I actually went to Peru, but we kept up to date thanks to letters and phone calls first, then it was the e-mail and MSN, and now, mainly Facebook. Thanks to my cousins and aunts and uncles I knew more of what was going on in my motherland.
It was through Facebook that I learnt about the passing of my grandpa. And it was through Facebook and Whatsapp that I tried my best to be in touch with the relatives from all around the world.
The hardest thing was not being able to be next to my dad or to my grandma on this day.
So after crying and crying and crying, my hand looked for a pencil and my faithful notebook. And I drew again, after so many months not daring to doodle a thing. Curious thing: the last thing I sketched was samples and ideas of my logo for my friend to get an idea of what I was looking for.
These words came to me as the rain which was pouring outside… and I kept trying to improve the little tuco all along the day.
It’s not much, but this is the best I can express how much I miss my family… and mostly in moments like these.
RIP, tuco.
You’ll be greatly missed.
Sympathies to you and your family at this difficult time.
Thanks a lot, Annwen! XO