A change in life


Chapter 4… Baptizing the celebrities


Solitude Ometepe, Rivas, Nicaragua
Solitude
Ometepe, Rivas, Nicaragua

     Grandfather was about to become twelve years old, and in those days, he was considered young but of age. As it happened, don Ernesto, his grandfather on the maternal side, was not growing any younger, and, more to the point, his health was slowly failing. For that reason, and against his wishes, his father decided to leave their lovely colonial house in Chinandega, the home where Grandfather was born and raised, and to move out to León, one of the oldest and largest cities in the country.


     His father had agreed to manage the various plantations belonging to his wife’s family near León. Relocating to the former capital would change their lives, drastically and in many ways. It would also place an additional strain on his father’s already busy days; for together with his brothers, they already had their hands full, overseeing their own peanut and sugar plantations close by Chinandega. As a result, Grandfather, the eldest son, was recruited into the lot of new chores and duties to look after, but he didn’t mind and never complained.


     It was precisely Grandfather who explained why they had moved to León, “…as my daddy’s father-in-law was growing older (your great-grandfather, Ernesto García), it seemed that his interest gradually changed from taking care of the cotton crops, towards taking care of another bottle of rum, which he stored and hoarded with utmost care, in that wine cellar of his, below the manor, in a seemingly endless supply. Now, I love my rum as much as anyone else; I´ve found it’s good for the stomach, especially with your grandma’s spicy cooking, and it’s good for the soul; but I’m sorry to say, as my dear old Gramps grew older, sadly, the old man began to drink his days away.” Anyway, that’s how Grandfather arrived to stay in León, and there he lived, quite happily, until the end of his days.

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