Don: The Man. The Legend.

What does it mean to live a full and happy life? What do you have to do in order to look back on your years and feel a sense of joy and accomplishment? People always say treat every day as if it were your last. Carpe diem. Make every moment count. Don´t waste time because life is too short. But how do you know if you are wasting those ever passing moments away? As a 24 year old, I sometimes feel invincible. What is the likelihood of my world being turned upside down by some fatal illness? (It´s actually probably higher than I think. But that´s not the point I am trying to make.) As humans, we sometimes feel unstoppable. Like we aren´t wasting our moments because there are plenty more to take advantage of. “I don´t have time to go on that trip I have always wanted to take…maybe next year.” “It´s not the right time to tell her that I love her…I will just wait a little while.” “One day my kids will appreciate the fact that I work 60 hours a week so they can have nice clothes and a new ipod…we will just take that family vacation next summer.” We are all slaves to time. It is not forgiving. It does not rewind. It keeps moving forward and it has no sympathy for those who do not use it wisely. So how can we guarantee that we are using what little time we have to live a happy, full life?

Yesterday, a good friend of mine passed away. He was 65 years old, smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and was rarely found without a sarcastic grin on his face. His name was Don and he lived a big life. I first met Don when I moved to Nebaj 15 months ago. My first reaction was “Who is this chain smoking ex-pat living in the middle of nowhere Guatemala?” Little did I know that eccentric man with a smoke stained mustache would become a staple in my Peace Corps adventure. Don and I bonded over the fact that we both grew up on a farm. He would tell me about his days riding his grandpa´s tractor and I would sit and listen as if we were in some strange way kindred spirits. Of course, it wasn´t always niceties with Don. He was a sweet, southern soul at heart but on the surface he was a dirty ole bastard. His forte was to make inappropriate jokes just for the sheer pleasure of making a girl blush. I will never forget the day I wore a t-shirt that said “I love consent!” He looked straight at me, read my shirt, said “Me too!” and then proceeded to ask me “Do I have yours?” He laughed his old man smoker laugh and I turned about as red as the inside of a watermelon. He was definitely not lacking in a sense of humor. The best part about him was that he could say a ridiculous comment like that and then follows it up by saying “Bye darlin´!” in such a deep, southern drawl that I couldn´t help but have a tender spot for him.

Not only was Don a vivacious flirt, he was also the man we could go to with any type of question. He was the king of pointless trivia. I remember sitting at his restaurant with a group of friends playing trivial pursuit. The entire game turned into a quest to find a question that Don didn´t know the answer to. He was practically the human equivalent to Google. It was phenomenal. “I wonder where the term “G-string” originated from…I bet Don would know!” And sure enough, we found ourselves listening to a story about cowboys putting their pant legs on one at a time and then tying them together with a rope called a “G-string”. The man was a legend.

Don lived a big life. He spent the past 20 years cooking comfort food for foreigners who were passing through Guatemala. He also helped run a special needs school here in Nebaj. He was a giver. Lived on little and took nothing for granted. And he was so full of stories from his past. Every one of us would have to piece those stories together and decide whether or not we believed them. Was Don actually a sniper? How successful was his escort service in Mexico? Did he really know where to find the fountain of youth? Ok, I might have made that last one up. But I don´t think it would have been too far-fetched for Don. His life was an adventure. And he loved to tell his stories. He even wrote a few down. I felt privileged the day he asked me to read one. It was about his life on the farm and the day he got into a gun fight with a group of squirrels. He was a talented writer and storyteller. There were just so many different facets of his life that it made you want to know more.

Don was an integral part of my Peace Corps experience. I feel like I could always count on him for a good meal and an interesting conversation. I am truly saddened that I won´t get to share that with him anymore. But I take comfort in the fact that I know Don led a full life. An exciting life. One worth celebrating. He might have been old in body, but he was young in spirit. And that spirit made you want to get out and grab hold of life. If I learned anything from Don, it was that life has no limits. If your dream is to go out and start up an escort service, than go do it. What´s stopping you? Life is too short to sit around and wait for things to happen. Live life. A happy, exciting, Don sized life. And don´t forget to share your story someday.

Thank you Don. For making the last 15 months of my life a little easier, a lot more entertaining and full of inappropriate comments and ridiculous stories that I will never forget. You have inspired me to tell my story and to make it one that is truly unforgettable.  I hope you are still laughing that amazing laugh wherever it is you are right now.