The Guadalajara Reporter

Christmas, New Year’s, the blues and depression don’t really go together, nor does nostalgia, a treasure of good cheer

A cloudy, chill rain greeted the middle of Mexico’s long-stretch Christmas which began December 8 ­– the celebration of immaculate conception of “the Virgin Mary, Mother of God” – and continues until Three King’s Day, January 6.  Slithering wet clouds gave mountain areas of Jalisco a hue so solemn – and cold – that some folks seemed downcast.

At the same time, a number of publications ran articles questioning the belief that people generally become depressed this time of year and suicide rates spike.  Not so, experts said in these reports: Suicides rise much more at the beginning of Spring.

Unfortunately, no such findings reached a friend who didn’t seem to mind the holiday cold but bent under the emotionally and circumstantially wrinkled weight he was hauling through days that others were inebriously celebrating. 

He came with his wife to Mexico, and within a year they had separated.  That wasn’t their plan when they crossed the border.  Abruptly they’ve had to split their money in a way that blurs how they see both  present and future.  It’s not the dream they had in mind.

They’re an unusual couple:  He is a Mexican-American from Iowa, she’s a Yankee from  Vermont.  Of the two she seems the most enthusiastic about Mexico.  Their first names are unusual, also:  He is named Donaldo and has been called Don all his life; her name is Donna.  Donaldo, at 74, is older than his wife, who is an energetic 58.   To his dismay, Don, former jogger and tennis player, is slowing down.  Neither were especially religious when they got married; she’s a “social” Protestant, he’s a Catholic who does not attend Mass, but is enthusiastic about Pope Francis.  Divorce is a subdued ongoing consideration.

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