In Memoriam

I'm dedicating this post to Mr. Francisco Alvarez and Mrs. Morela Barreto, who recently died in a car accident on their trip from eastern Venezuela back to their home in Valencia, which is in mid-western Venezuela. I was informed by my dad this evening about the whole thing.

Morela, Francisco, and their children, Jose and Celeste, all lived in Fayetteville for a while. Morela completed a Ph.D. in food science, and then returned home. Meanwhile, their oldest son, Jose, completed his bachelors at the University of Arkansas and was/is doing a masters in University of Oklahoma. Their daughter was going to high school when they returned to Venezuela. Morela was a professor at the University of Carabobo in Valencia while Francisco was a retired professor who was very much into alternative forms of medicine. The University of Carabobo suspended classes because of the accident.

They were really nice people, and some of the most authentic Venezuelans I've met. I used to go to their apartment in Maple Manor and eat some food and talk about various topics, like Venezuelan traditions and all. Francisco would have all sorts of interesting and funny stories, so it was always fun to listen to what he had to say. When I decided to start a booth for Venezuela in an international bazaar they had every year at the University of Arkansas, Morela would let me borrow some tradicional clothes and stuff I didn't really have to show.

It's a shame that I didn't get to see them when I was in Venezuela. One day I heard from my mom that they were in town visiting one of our friends who also had lived in Fayetteville because they were on their way to their destination to where the accident occured. I wonder if they stayed in that place the whole time and they were finally coming back a few days ago. I was really wishing that our paths would have crossed again.

I'll miss them.