This past week, I had the honor of attending – and helping translate – a memorial service for two adventurous spirits whose lives were sadly cut too short last year following a car accident. No, I never met them. I didn’t know them. Yet, oddly their legacy lives on in Puerto Peñasco, and I can’t help but be touched by how the families responded in grieving their loss.
I remember the news from last year, just a few days before the busy Semana Santa holidays, a car accident right where the dirt road turns to a divided stretch of paved street near the resorts by Sandy Beach, two lives lost. Yet, I also remember how the parents of these two girls reached out to the community of Puerto Peñasco – not in anger, though yes grief – but wanting to do something to honor their daughters by making this stretch of road possibly that much safer with lighting, and new signage. They approached the municipal administration, worked with local US wardens Beverly Arrowood and Rick Busa, and thanked the first-responder EMTs who were on the scene of the tragic accident.
As her father Kevin explained just last week, Anna Wilson – together with her friend Amanda whose life was also cut short – was doing what she loved while on break from school in California …Adventure! Travel! Mexico! I can only imagine my own journey reflected in these words.
During the memorial, Kevin gave us all a task in the spirit of his daughter’s campaign “Pura Vida” – which she first imagined during earlier travels in Costa Rica. It’s a treasure map of sorts, and (with Kevin’s encouragement) we are all invited to join in, whether we knew Anna and Amanda or not.
Let’s help share some of the breathtaking moments around Puerto Peñasco and beyond with Anna’s family by posting pictures to www.PuraVida.Guru
Thank you to both Anna’s and Amanda’s parents for turning their grief into such a wonderful and important contribution for the community, visitors and residents alike!
