My father’s humble manner
had inspired my admiration
and love for him from my
earliest memories. That
manner was no doubt
strongly influenced by the
Buddhist principles that he
strove daily to practice
sincerely and consistently.
My mother, too, had many
admirable qualities; however,
I would not usually include
humility among them. The
not-very-flattering truth was
that she could be quite
imperious at times. Clara
had proven to be a worthy
foil for her, never disrespect-
ful, yet never allowing herself
to be cowed into abject sub-
servience, no matter how
demanding or unreasonable
or unyielding my mother
might be, as she was on
occasion.
Invariably at such times,
Clara would simply listen to
my mother in silence. She
might try, briefly, to reason
with Mom, change her mind if
that were possible. But if
that clearly was not going to
happen, Clara would simply
acknowledge the pointless-
ness of further attempts with
a quiet “Sí, Señora” and
return to more productive
pursuits.
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That Friday after the killer
quake wreaked its havoc,
Tina arrived in Peru as
originally planned. Clara no
longer having a home in
Lima, where Tina had
planned to stay for the baby’s
baptism, and Lima airport
having been closed indef-
initely because of extensive
earthquake damage, Tina
flew on to Cusco and stayed
with me in Ponce instead.
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Tina had to be back to work
in New York by June 4.
Before leaving, she did her
best to cheer Clara up. We
all did. But we recognized
that Clara would have to deal
with her grief in her own way.
She seemed to find particular
solace being in the garden
my father had created. She
would sit on the bench next
to the pond, sometimes
playing the quena, but mostly
just staring blankly ahead or
at the ground. She went on
with her daily responsibilities
as diligently as ever, and
certainly as “normally” as
anyone in her tragic circum-
stances could possibly be
expected to.
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We traveled together to my
parents’ home. But now,
there would be no happy
celebration to look forward to,
just painful attempts to
console Clara—and each
other. For, in fact, both of my
parents had also lost family
members in the quake. My
father’s brother Carlos and
his family, as well as both of
my mother’s half sisters and
their respective families, all
had perished.
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