Editor’s Page – March 2024

[Editor’s Note] Every once in a while, you run across a story that is full of Grace. This one involves no less than 3 countries, 6 cities and no fewer than fifteen people. Sometimes it takes more than a village for a happy ending.

Brian’s Story

Brian is my brother-in-law.  On January 14th, he arrived from Ontario to visit my husband and I in San Antonio Tlayacapan, where we spend our winters at Lakeside. This was Brian’s first time in Mexico, and he arrived at the Guadalajara airport shortly after noon on January 14th. There had been a mix-up regarding Brian’s arrival time and we were not there yet to meet him.

After exiting Customs, Brian quickly realized that he had lost his cell phone or (as he originally thought) that someone had stolen it. The phone case also contained all his money, his credit/debit cards and ID. He had no way to contact us, or to obtain money, a meal, or use a credit card or debit card to get to Lakeside.

A kind gentleman at the airport saw that Brian was very agitated.  He approached Brian, offered him a phone to call me at Lakeside, and bought him lunch. This gentleman was from California and was in Mexico to visit relatives.

My husband and I arrived later.  When we met Brian, he was understandably very upset, although he had been in the good hands of the good Samaritan from California. When we arrived back at the Lakeside, we cancelled his credit cards and debit card.  We gave him a loan, knowing he would pay it back when he straightened out the situation with his cards in Canada.  Brian finally started his vacation.

Several days later, I received an email from my nephew Nick in Ontario, asking me to contact a lady named Angelica in Georgia, USA. Angelica had information about Brian’s cell phone, money, cards, and identification. I called her and discovered that she had been trying to reach Brian for several days. Her parents in Mexico had contacted her to say they had Brian’s lost possessions.

As we later found out, Brian had left his jacket, containing his missing property, in a washroom at the Guadalajara airport.  His jacket sported a logo for “Armstrong Trucking” in Ontario.  Angelica located the phone number for Armstrong Trucking, called them, and found out that, yes, Brian worked there, as did his grandson, Ryan.  Ryan called his Uncle Nick, who contacted me and passed on Angelica’s phone number.

I called Angelica and she gave me her parents’ names and phone number in Mexico. During the call with Angelica’s mother, Maria, it became apparent that we needed a translator. So we asked two neighbors, Dr. Jim and Judy, to make the call and translate. Dr. Jim spoke with Angelica’s father, Gonzalo Orozio, to arrange a time and meeting place for the delivery of Brian’s phone, cards and ID in the village of San Diego Lazaro Cardenas.

My husband, Brian, our neighbor Connie, and I set out for the meeting on a Saturday morning at about 9:00 am. After several missed turns and some bad roads, we arrived in San Diego in the early afternoon.  We called Gonzalo, who directed us to the church in the town centre, where he handed Brian his phone, money and ID’s.

Gonzalo is a wonderful gentleman. He asked us to follow him home to meet Maria but, unfortunately, that would have made it too late to return home across the lake and we regretfully declined.  Brian offered Gonzalo a reward. He absolutely refused. He is a very special man. God bless him.


For more information about Lake Chapala visit: chapala.com


Anne Pride
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