[mikel]

I met Coco a few times over the years and he was always a very friendly and welcoming host to anyone who stopped there. I remember one time we were there and a local stopped by who was obviously down on his luck. He was driving an old car that would die if left idling with tires that looked like they could blowout at the next turn. I don’t think he even owned a change of clothes, with his pants and shirt worn so thin it was a miracle they didn’t just fall apart at the seams. He stopped at Coco’s looking to buy a gallon of gas to make it home.

Coco not only gave him the 3 gallon container full of gas, he then went out to a trailer where he pulled out a couple of big bags of clothes and gave the poor guy a couple pairs of newer looking pants, shirts, underwear and socks as well as a pair of boots that looked brand new.

The guy broke down and cried, hugging Coco before driving off.

My wife wasn’t crazy about his panty collection he was so proud of but we have seen lots of places with similar displays over the years with most of them up here on the north side of the border.

Like most of us, Coco probably had his flaws but I had the opportunity to see his generous, good side as well, something to be admired considering he faced so many physical challenges and had so relatively little himself. There’s probably a lesson there for all of us.

RIP Coco.