At my age, it is rare to make new friends. Most of my friendships are ones that have been established over time, growing out of innumerable shared experiences, similar situations, interests that more or less converge, etc.

None of that was true with Peco. I met her through a group that Rafael Edwards formed in response to the pandemic in 2020, a group he regularly participated in because of the studies we were doing and the affinity that existed among all the participants. Peco joined shortly after the group formed and for inexplicable reasons, I felt an immediate affinity with her. I already knew her by name from decades before, since at the beginning of the seventies, her brother Tomas and I were close friends and cronies.

Peco and I never met in person until last year, April 2022, when I visited Chile. Rafa and I had lunch with her at their mutually preferred Chinese restaurant, and it was a very simple meeting, with depth in what we talked about, and I knew immediately that we would be friends forever.

"Why do they call you 'Peco'?" I asked her a couple of months ago in our Zoom meeting.

Because of "Pecos Bill," ** she answered immediately with a huge smile.

Quickly realizing that I hadn't understood, she explained to me that when she was a child, she liked to play like the boys, so her parents bought her "Pecos Bills," the Chilean nickname for little boys' jeans back then, probably in imitation of North American blue jeans.

So, without any fuss, Peco explained her nickname to me, and I couldn't resist asking her more questions. After all, she was a person I had just met, and I could see her in her descriptions and in everything we said about her after the Pecos Bill thing had been clarified. What I most admire about her is her ability to be simple without trying to be. If she did not understand something, she would say so. If something seemed right to her, she would say so. If something seemed wrong to her, she also said so with no problem. Peco is and was transparent.

I say “is and was” because yesterday they gave me the sad news that Peco has left us for another time and another space due to a car accident. I didn't know how to react to the news. It made want very much to weep, something that I have not done for anyone who has departed up to now. I told myself many times that this was not possible. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Peco. I was just getting to know her. It can't be, I told myself over and over again.

Little by little I calmed down, but I couldn't keep from recognizing how much it surprised me that Peco had become such a strong part of my life. I'm not surprised often and it's been good. I have discovered something important inside of me that I still don't understand very well but that I am not trying to understand either. I have the intuition that it goes in the direction where events and feelings meet and logic and intellectual comprehension are left aside, where we can't explain facts that seem so common and absolutely certain for all human beings who have ever lived, are living and will live on this planet. Death is a sure thing, at least the death of our physical body. But knowing that did not give me any comfort. I felt great sadness over Peco's departure and I stayed in that state for a long time until Fern, our dog, came to lick my face to tell me to please take her for a walk.

I went for a walk with Fern, basically because I needed it more than she did, but it was cold and dark. Suddenly, the clouds dissolved and a beautiful, bright full moon lit up the whole sky. I looked at the moon and saw Peco grinning from ear to ear. That made me laugh too, and then and there I was able to say goodbye to her, as her face told me that all was well. Over and over again I looked up at the moon, and I had the feeling that from now on, every new moon I see will have Peco's face and Peco's smile.

I am sure that for many, Peco has been an incredible, deeply appreciated and beloved friend, mother, and grandmother. For me, she is the last friend I have made, and I will remember her forever with her full moon smile and her children's Pecos Bills - a child who undoubtedly remained in the past that was transformed into a woman who, in addition to being a mother, daughter, friend and grandmother, has been an exceptional and inspiring messenger.

PHOTO BY RAFAEL EDWARDS

TRANSLATION BY TRUDI LEE RICHARDS

** Pecos Bill, one of the most representative mythical figures from the American cowboys, was invented by writer Edward J. O'Reilly in 1923.

They say that Pecos Bill lived near the Mexican border. From the the time of his creation, he has been romanticized as the greatest cowboy of the American West. Legend has it that, as a child, he fell from the diligence in which he was traveling and was found by a family of coyotes near the so-called Pecos River (southwest Texas). There he grew up, and while riding his horse managed to chase away a tornado. He is also credited with bringing rain from California to Texas during a dry spell, thereby forming the Gulf of Mexico.

In 1948, in the Disney movie Melody Time, an animated short was made in which Roy Rogers sings the famous song recounting the life of this cowboy. This musical theme was also arranged in Spanish by Luis Aguilé as a children's song. (Translated from the Spanish wikipedia entry: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecos_Bill)