There are some moments...

There are some moments that are worth living for. Madeleina was with Chepa, the wife/ex-wife last week, and the last I saw of them was Friday morning, when I came to pick up Madeleina for school because Chepa felt ill. I brought oranges for Chepa's babies, Sierra and Alexa, kissed them good morning, then headed off with Madeleina for school.
That was the last I saw or heard of her till this afternoon. Seems Chepa went to visit a pal in a nearby town--a woman I knew years ago who had married a friend of mine who she subsequently dumped. (There's a pattern if every Amazon Indian dumps every freaking gringo they marry. It may not be an ABAB pattern, but it's a pattern nonetheless.)
I'm sure everything was fine but it bothered me that Madeleina was taken to another town, to an address I don't know, without a contact phone number or even a phone call to say it was happening and then she was gone 84 hours. Simple consideration, eh?
I wrote Chepa an email saying that and have not heard back. I'm sure I'm on the no-call list for a few days for my transgression. So today I was taken aback when Marco came over and said he was cleaning Chepa's garage. When he needed money I wasn't surprised--I'm dad, after all, and presumably rich (HA!)--but I was surprised when he said Italo's future in-laws, pregnant Sara's parents, were coming to mom's tonight and Chepa insisted the whole house and garage be spit-polished.
I was sort of surprised because they never came here while she was living here for three years.
Still, if she's going to have a baby at Chepa's, maybe that changes things.
So when Marco left, complaining of all the cleaning he had to do, I went out to Italo, who was sitting at his makeshift beautiful desk on the back porch basking in the sun, and said, "So, you've got quite a night coming, eh?"
He looked at me quizzickly. "What do you mean, dude?"
"Sara's parents at mom's...cheque, cheque, eh?"
He looked at me for a moment till the light dawned, then he laughed.
"I just lied and told mom that so she'd clean the house. I'm tired of it looking messy."
"You made it up?"
"Well, you bought mom a new stove and it's being delivered tomorrow as a surprise, and I'm not going to be embarrassed when the delivery guys get there. So they can clean the house, alright?"
I laughed. "You got style, boy. Balls and style."
So for just a minute there, my family felt like my family again. Needs, desires, selfishness, selflessness, love, anger, angst, all that jazz that makes life worth living. And I've not had enough of it around here lately. So it was a fucking refreshing jolt.
Thanks, you guys.
PS: And then how is this for the first two of three people I asked for a back of the book quote?

"Unlike many writing about ayahuasca, Peter Gorman knows this plant and these forests long and well. Explorer, ethnobotanist, writer and raconteur – Gorman is uniquely qualified to tell this incredible tale. A wild mixture of adventure, horror, spirituality, tenderness, and insight, "Ayahuasca in My Blood" is most highly recommended!"
Mark J. Plotkin, Ph.D, President, Amazon Conservation Team and author of A Shamnan’s Apprentice.

"I have known and traveled with Peter for almost a decade and was present for a number of the events he included in this book as well as many others. Don Julio was the most "powerful man" I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Further as a trained scientist I believe the plant medicine truly offers a doorway to a rich world that needs to be understood in our post modern lives. This is destined to become a must read for anyone who is serious about understanding the world of the Shaman."
Lynn Chilson –Former NASA scientist and CEO Chilson Enterprises, Inc.