Grief in Guatemala

Thursday is garbage pickup day on the south end of 56572. The Ballard Sanitation truck usually rumbles thorugh this neighborhood about eight in the morning. Shortly before eight this morning a half dozen garbage bags were piled up under the 40981 address sign two doors south of here. It was a macabre sight for the eighty Lake Region Electrical Cooperative employees pulling in the Lake Region parking lot. A few minutes later the bags were gone. With them the last vestige of the short lives of two Guatemalan teenagers. They won't be coming back to 40981 anytime soon.

I think about Ernesto and Juan Martin. Were they friends, from the same village? What were the last six months like for them? Who told them about 56572? What was their journey from Guatemala to 56572 like? How many bribes did they pay along the way? How much did the falsified identification papers cost? What did they think of life at 40981 and in 56572?

I think about the two extended families grieving in Guatemala and send them my condolences. Can someone help me get in touch with them? Their sons left home to pursue success in "El Norte." They will not return. Did the boys regularly send money home? How will Ernesto's family be able to afford to send his body home? Juan Martin will spend a good portion of his life in North American prisons. Will INS deport him? If so, how long before he's back in this country, a free man with a new identity and a shady past.

Their belongings have gone through the incinerator as we try to wipe this violent act from our collective memory. 40981 will remain the Guatemalan house for years to come. We won't remember who they were, just what happened.

Doors of 56572 (17)



Fishing report
Shore anglers are catching crappies on Lida and Prairie. Smaller area lakes are also kicking out some crappies. Crappie minnows and waxworms working best. Catfishing action is good on the Pelican River.