Charles-Édouard De Suremain
Chers cousins et cousines,
Queridos primos y primas,
Dear cousins,
Cher Christian, Jean-Paul, Noëlle, Danielle, Michelle,
I have been knowing your mother Marybel in 1985, just before I first visited Guatemala. Oncle Christian suggested me to make a stop in Miami first, in order to have discussions with Marybel regarding her youth, life and general perceptions on her life in Guatemala. Marybel received me at her home with generosity. She cooked "huevos con frijoles" to welcome me, in order to facilitate my adaptation to Guatemala. "You'll never appreciate the country, she said", if you don't eat the national dish".
Marybel showed me many pictures of San Jeronimo and her parents Louis et Madeleine. Progressively, I had the feeling to know better and better my American family. Commentaries, souvenirs, jokes, anecdotes accompanying the pictures was, to my eyes, her way to share "her Guatemala" with me.
As my plane for Guatemala took off at 5 PM, we had time to go to church together. Marybel's deep faith had to be shared, not only formally. She drove me (very carefully) to a very large and round christian Church. "We are in the arena", she said. Actually, people were clapping her hands and even yelling, something I was not accustomed to from France and Burgundy! For her, massive christian evangelization was an important process to consider in order to know Guatemala's social dynamics better. I never forgot her advice, particularly when writing on the complex turmoils that always faced the country.
I wish I could be here with you, in Guatemala, to share this very particular moment for all of you. Please, receive my deepest sympathy, and share it with all yours.
Je vous embrasse très affectueusement,
Charles-Édouard
