This week has not been the best week we have ever had here in Xcalak. Let me go back to where we first meet Cliff shortly after we arrived in Xcalak. Some time around Nov 2007 I was at our new friends Neal and Shawn who at that time operated the Flying Cloud Hotel here in Xcalak. They were telling me of this friend of theirs (Cliff) and what a strange old guy he was. Well about that time Cliff showed up driving this old beat up blue truck that looked like it was way past its expiration date. You could hear this truck coming from 2 blocks away. He turned it off and it loped about 2 or 3 time before it stopped. Out stepped this tall skinny guy with a beard something like mine with a smile and a nod he walked up. Neal said speak of the devil this is Cliff he reached out with his one good arm and shook my hand (Cliff was born handicapped his left arm went to about to his elbow but had small finger tips on it and he called it his nub). He said howdy in a pure Texas drawl. We talked for a short time and I had to leave. On the way out I told Cliff to stop by anytime. Well I got home and was telling Lorrie (my wife) about this new friend. I had not been home 10 minutes when up pulled Cliff in Old Blue (his truck). He wanted to meet Lorrie and talk to me some more. Well over the next hour or so we talked about allot of things from Old Blue to music. Cliff was a real music lover. Well I love my music and I have allots of Cd's. Cliff had recently lost his hard drive that was full of old music. He was over joyed to see all my Cd's (over the next 2 years Cliff had copied every CD I had). It was a start of a good friendship. Now I am not going to tell you that Cliff was one of them lovable type of guys. Cliff was Cliff. Very opinionated some what gruff very out spoken take me as I am type of guys. He did not care if you liked him but if he liked you he would do anything for you. He would push buttons just to see what happened. If you stood up to him and gave it right back he could deal with that. I think he even liked it. Cliff live south of town as he put it "I am the last gringo before Belize". It was just him and his pit bull Toro 3 miles south of the town of Xcalak down a very bumpy path that they called a road. The house was in the middle of an old coconut plantation in the largest mosquito breading reserve in Mexico. Cliff was one of them great story tellers. He had done everything from the largest roach clip manufacture to one of the largest Ford dealers in Texas. The stories never stopped. Now I will never know how much of it was true or if it all was. He would stop by our trailer in town and stay all day. Cliff did not have many friends that he would take the time to go visit but when he did stop to see you it was never a short visit. I could go on and on telling you of how he put on camouflage paint snuck on to the Mexican military base to get his dog back or the million other crazy things he did. What I did need to tell you is my friend Cliff has passed away. He came by on Jan 8Th to tell my wife happy birthday, he stayed for a short time to catch up and he had to go get gas and water. After a time of not hearing from him I emailed him. We had an understanding that he was suppose to email me once a week but he never did. But when he did not return my email I started to worry. So I sent him one more telling him if he did not email me back I would have to come down there. Again he did not answer. So my wife and I started the trek to Cliffs house down the bumpy path they call a road. It is not an easy thing to get to his house and once there you first have to get by Toro a very lively pit bull that takes his job of guarding Cliff and the house with all the gusto of a full blown tiger shark attack. We pulled up and Toro met us half way to the house. As we pulled close to the house the door was open as Cliff always had it during the day. We got out and Toro did his jump and bump thing as always. Everything looked right but Cliff was no were to be seen. So we in to went to the house and yelled for him. No reply as I went in to the lower floor looking for him Lorrie went upstairs. As I was returning from my walk Thur Lorrie called to me from the stairs. She had opened the door to the upstairs and slammed it. She said "Oh my God the room is full of flies". I went up the stairs and told her to get back and I went in the room. There is no way I can tell you how it feels to see a friend who you love in the state I found him. The smell of the room and the look of the body of some one who has been dead for over 14 days. It is something you will never want to know. I came back out of the room and told my wife he is dead. So we went in to a kind of mindless do what needs to be done mode. From getting the Mexican cops (fun in its own way) to taking care of the dog and the house till the owner got here from the states. Now we are done with what we felt was our duty to our friend. We can sit back and mourn the loss of a good friend. Cliff you were a good friend and we will miss you so very much. You did what you once told me was your reason for coming to Mexico "I came here to die". Cliff died of a heart attack while taking his afternoon siesta.
Here is a link to Cliff's blog page. Great stories about his life here in Xcalak.
http://portillas.com/
