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Fare thee well: January 10 I leave for my final visit to the school and the many young people I have grown to love so much over the past 5 years and multiple visits. Things are about to change for the better at the school. Most of the children I have had the strongest attachment to have or will this year move on to other schools. My personal funds are drained. It is as good a time as any to wrap it up.

I ask all of you not to dwell on the ending. Let us all celebrate the success. Over 100 of you became involved in your own and unique way. A book was written to documents your achievements. Hundreds of Mexican families are better off because of your efforts. You are the Beautiful Americans … and Canadians … and Danes … and Brits.

Isabella and Johnny send me off with a song

Book sighting: I would like to share a personally amusing moment. Zihua friend Josie and her husband love to travel. This summer they were in Homer, Alaska and Josie was in the Homer Public Library and she delightfully reports there is a copy of my book (Journey to Zihuatanejo) available for patrons. How these things occur make for entertaining guesses. Small, small world!

Speaking of reading: I want to thank you, the readers of this Blog. The Blog is now in its 5th year. This is my 85th (and longest) post. I started with about 60 readers on my first post. Today I have 263 on the list. Not all who receive this link read the posts. But other people find their way to the site. I had about 3,100 visitors to my Blog in 2011. Of course some of you came visiting more than once, but still there were still lots of folks that stumbled onto the site. Since the Blog began I have had 17,853 visitors and counting. According to the Blog statistics I had visitors from 6 continents. Makes a guy smile!

Now I want to salute some folks who helped make this last trip the biggest and best ever. May you all receive infinite good karma. (Readers, please note how far and wide the gifts come from.)

Contributions – Clothes: I asked if any of you had some children’s clothes. What’s that expression… “Beware what you ask for”. I received a mountain of replies. Two 7-foot mountains to be more exact. One 7-foot stack is here in Las Cruces. Another awaits travel orders in the Los Angeles area. SuperHero and wise Trojan fan V used Facebook to organize an army of donors (including Ally, Vivian, Meg, Rachelle, Sue, Terri and Kamla) in the Greater San Francisco area and sent me 4 large boxes of children’s clothes. Las Cruces donors included friend Barb (known to me as Aunt B) and Estella, Kelly and Lanee (from the Las Cruces Public Library). Other donors include longtime friends Ayala and Jeanne (Southern California areas), Paul and Kathie (Midwest) and Josie (from Zihua). Matt is the winner of the contribution that traveled the longest distance. His donation comes from near Cambridge, England!

Contributions – $$$: I received the largest single financial donation yet. Most of the money will go to supplement the meager pay of the teachers from Las Joyas. The donation is on behalf of the Ratter family. There is a story that goes with the pledge and I am reprinting it at the end of this post. The story gives me Happy Tears. Hope you will read it. Meanwhile, a big MUCHAS GRACIAS to the Ratter Family and spouses: Patriarchs Bill and Mary (Napa, CA), sons, daughters and in-laws Rich and Missy (Annapolis, MD), Joel and Joy (Riverside, CA), Jeff and Cindy (Encinitas, CA), David and Christine (Napa, CA), Jonathan (San Pedro, CA), Steve and Max (Los Angeles, CA). I also received a very generous donation from Barge girlfriend Sally (Chicago, IL) and a nice pledge from Irv and Claudia (Sacramento, CA).

Memo and 4 underpaid teachers at Las Joyas

Contributions – Transportation Workers Supremo: Almost none of this would be possible without my Clueless (ed. Click to read.) friend and part-time boss and his wife and associates: Ken, Denise and Rocco, Andy and Jen, Pam and Willa. These strong, (mostly) willing bodies will be lugging the other 7-foot mountain of clothes from the Los Angeles area. They will be arriving just in time for the February clothing sale at the school. Proceeds will go for needed supplies and to supplement the teacher’s salaries. A detailed report will be coming in late February or early March.

Now for a story. It comes from Missy in Baltimore. She sent out a holiday letter this year (45 friends and family), as she usually does. The first 60% was traditional content. But the last 40% wasn’t your usual family/friend letter. Below, with Happy Tears, I share with you what she wrote:

“A special blog we’ve been following is my ‘Uncle Bully’. He’s not really my uncle, but he’s the son of a patient that my mom cared for back around 1955. The patient, his father, died and Bill’s mother was badly burned in a fire. He was only 10 yrs old at the time and my mom, a young nurse, cared for him and his brother, while their mother recuperated. When my parents married, Bill Bradley just became an integral part of our family as we grew to be 6 children. He showed up regularly thru his college days, heading off to war in Vietnam, and then during his highly successful Business Executive life. He came to my high school graduation and my mom always made him a birthday cake, no matter when he visited.

Now Bill is retired and taken up a special project caring for the very poor children of Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Bill began a heartfelt mission to ‘Make a difference’. He has orchestrated a whole group of volunteers to provide food, donate clothing, teach English and much more. He has even written a book about his adventures. He is Bill Bradley at www.zihuabill.wordpress.com. There is also a short but poignant review of his efforts by a colleague on an online page titled Tossing Starfish Back into the Ocean: A Tribute to ‘Memo’ the Unsung Leader. (ed. Click to read.) It’s a beautiful tribute. I am so very proud of him. Just as my mom recognized his spirit all those many years ago, I always knew he was a very special person too. I just wanted to share this story with all of you as we think about everything we are grateful for at this time of the year….”

Now I have to finish packing my stuff. More soon from sunny and friendly Zihuatanejo. Memo

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