His memories of 60 years fishing on the lake have been fragmented by Alzheimer’s disease
Angel Serrano is currently 77 years old and has not fished Lake Chapala for more than 900 days. Photo: Alma Serrano.
Alma Serrano(San Juan Cosalá).- Fishing is an unceasing activity that balances calmness, sensibility, patience, and creativity. Fishing allows you to enjoy your work and share that joy with your family. Fishing was a job where you did not need vacations because you were always happy.
Fishing makes you an expert in so many things. You have had about eight canoes. You fished for mojarras (a species of whitefish) and charales (minnow-sized fish, a local delicacy). You used hooks and atarrayas (cone shaped fishing net).
You knew when to get into the canoe and arrive home with 100 kilos of tilapia. You knew you were an excellent swimmer.
You were able to use all your senses to know when a fish was near, look at it, not lose sight of it, and set the hook with hope and wealth in your hands. You have been an excellent spectator. You could detect a movement in the water, in the wind and throw the net with great force. You become more cunning with time, able to fix your attention on the target, concentrating only on the action.
Ironically, the fish ended up loving you, Ángel. For 50 years in San Juan Cosalá you have been their faithful companion. The fish got used to seeing you and they began to love you. It has been more than 900 days since they have seen you on the lake and they must be worried.
The lake must be in mourning, Ángel, you should not have left it.
One day you will not remember what your life consisted of for more than 60 years. You will not remember who you were and who you are now. Your hands have started to feel soft and empty. You need to go back to the lake, take the fishing line and create a new memory. Maybe that is the only way to remember yourself without using your memory, as the saying goes «what you learn well, you never forget».
Ángel, your hands are a memory of what you love, you may be forgetting faces, feelings, and activities, even the essence of what you are, but people do not forget you. When we see a landscape, a wave, a fish, we remember you. Your body is at home, but your heart is still on the lake, fishing.
Ángel Serrano Medina, is my grandfather, a 77-year-old resident of San Juan Cosalá who started fishing when he reached his first decade. He no longer remembers how to fish.
For three years his memory has been fragmenting bit by bit. He has the disease where he loses the ability to relive memories: Alzheimer’s.
He is a strong and overflowing man, passionate about what he does best and dedicated to what he has devoted most of his life to: fishing. “Do you remember when you were one of the pioneers of fishing in San Juan Cosalá and caught a tilapia of more than one meter?” I ask him. “I hope you remember,” I answered.
Translated by Nita Rudy
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