He lost his wife to cancer and wrote a testimonial book: “It's a way to expel penalties”

Efraín Gomez began writing Mavia, my balm with the memory of his wife who had died of cancer. It was three years of learning by his side, there were many sad passages and small joys. The road was complicated until the farewell came, a goodbye forever that the journalist lambramino exposes in this testimonial book published by Artifice Comunicadores.

— How was that approach for you to start writing this testimonial book?

“There are two things that marked me. The first is that three years before Mavia died, a friend asked me what my. My immediate response was: Mavia is my balm. With that word he summed up everything he felt. And the second is that when we were in treatment, she told me that she had earned me a 'little piece of heaven' and hoped that our grandchildren - if I ever have them - would find out how I had worked with her in this very painful process. I, as a journalist, have my notes and sometimes I would sit at the computer and gradually write. After five years I have published the book. It's not long, it could have had more pages, but I think this is a solid result. It is a way to expel the sorrows, my sorrows and the bad anguish, and all that I have been able to give in this three-year process.

“It's a long process. In the introduction you write: “I express my expectation of hope for those who go through this painful path, which is often irreversible, impassable and destines us to a path of no return.” In a few lines you say quite a lot.

“That's the approach I gave him. Writing this book has made me more human, more supportive and more attentive to who I come across when I'm walking on the street. Also in having faith. Now I look up and think that there is someone who guides us and it is God.

“Didn't you believe in God before?

“It was like most Catholics who only attended church in weddings, baptisms and wakes. Mavia was very active. I remember that we toured the seven churches at Easter, but I was not a devotee, however, this has changed; I stuck to Catholicism and I say it openly.

“In the book there is a lot of pain, especially when it reaches the final part. Can it be said that all of us who have lost a loved one carry grief in our own way?

“Yes, it is that perhaps he is not a cancer patient as it was in my case. It may be that he died from another illness or in an accident, and it shocks us a lot. Many times what is not done to save the loved one.

“You do anything for the one you love.

“That's right. The presentation of Mavia, my balsam, was in the district of Lambrama, in Abancay, where I was born and raised. I was reading a few paragraphs of the book and I see a man who began to cry with what he was talking about. After the presentation, this middle-aged man came up to me and told me that he had his wife with cancer four years ago, but he didn't see her, that is, he was with her, but he preferred that the doctor take care of it. Seconds later he hugged me and started crying. Somehow, in the family environment there is a relative who is suffering from a disease.

LAMBRAMA, LOOKS OF NOSTALGIA

“A moment ago you just told me that you were born in Lambrama and, in addition to Mavia, my balm, you also published Lambrama. Looks of nostalgia.

“It's my birthplace. The town has my story: there are my childhood and adolescence, and it is the place where I always seek to return.

—It is a paradise of customs: there are festivals such as that of San Blas, the Virgin and the baby Jesus.

“Because of my profession, I have traveled for four decades to various parts of Peru. Each town has its own peculiarity, just as it happens in Lambrama, which is very rich in culture and tradition, but it is falling due to cultural imposition. Modernity, development and Western advancement make it different. There is a lot of cultural opposition with the young people of this town.

— Is the goal not to forget the traditions of Lambrama?

“Exactly. There is a cultural wealth. It is a typical town that is not paid attention to by the authorities and, as in political campaigns, they offer them everything, but when they arrive in office they completely forgot. Going back to your question: you have to work subtly at school to let them know that there is culture and tradition in Lambrama.

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