Living without arms

I haven’t written for long time (again!). It was partly because of my moving back home and the adjusting process I was suffering. This time, I did suffer deeply… it’s amazing it had to be that tough when it’s supposed to be my own country! LOL

Anyway, that’s another story…

However, this past Saturday I got one of the best lectures I’ve ever had about life. I drove my mom, an uncle and a couple of aunties to a small town near to Guadalajara called Amatitan. Amatitan is the real town where Tequila was first produced by the indigenous people of this region, several centuries ago, before the arrival of the Spaniards to our territory.

Well, in this town I met a family, friends of my mom, who recently moved to this town from Guadalajara. The old couple had a son and 2 daughters, all of them married. But I’m gonna talk about the son only because he was the teacher who gave me this lecture about life.

This man, named “Tavito” (the short name of Gustavo), is only around 33 years old. He lost both of his arms in an accident when he was 21 years old. He was working for the Federal Commission of Electricity. Unfortunately, he had the bad luck to be at the wrong time and at the wrong place and he got electrocuted. After the shock, he woke up in a hospital and he realized that both of his arms were totally burned. They had to cut them off if he wanted to survive.

He told me that as soon as he woke up, the very first thing he did was realizing that he was breathing and therefore, he also realized he was still alive. From that moment on he started a new and challenging life, a life worth living and a life that wouldn’t be easier than before. Then, he realized he had committed a mistake while working and he immediately apologize to his dad, who used to work with him at the same place. The father was shattered and he couldn’t do anything but embrace him and cry out loud. But this was just the beginning of a better life…

Tavito doesn’t allow himself to get depressed. After so many years of real struggle because of his physical limitation, he is still optimistic, an outspoken and friendly person. He is well known around the town and now he is even running for Mayor of Amatitan. Whether he’ll succeed or not, that doesn’t really matter. What really matters is his strong temper and his amazing will to live and never give up.

Tavito taught me that life isn’t about capacities, but will. It is also about humility to recognize that one alone can do nothing (and it’s even more shocking when you cannot even eat by your own). We live in a community and we cannot be excluded from it. We must recognize that together we can overcome any obstacles that we encounter on our way... alone, it’s possible, but more difficult.

Life is short and must be lived at its fullness. We have no assurance that we’ll be alive by tomorrow… tempus breve est – time is short. What is life but an opportunity to love and be loved? I saw this materialized in this man’s wife, who after so many years of marriage they are still together, she helps him out all the time and you can see that by this mutual sacrifice, they are more united than ever.