I’ll never forget in San Lucar, when James aged 9 months fell and hit his head, Carlos rushed us to a kid’s clinic and immediately negotiated with all the mother’s in the waiting room for us to jump the queue to get James seen fast by the doctor. Needless to say they were all charmed by him, and no-one refused!. Then during that memorable holiday in San Lucar, some years later, Leila had a raging ear infection, and Carlos did a “drug run” half way across Spain, middle of the night, to find THE one and only open pharmacy... to get her medecine. It is a little too easy when you think of Carlos to think of the crazy, exuberant, high energy party boy but actually what really sets him apart was his utter generosity and care for others, most especially children. It is rare to find such generosity of spirit in one so wild. No-one else buys 16 kids colouring books & coloured pens, and arrives in a bluster of energy, at 10 am in the morning, to settle the babble of children down to breakfast and colouring!. Or stops the car, middle of nowhere, and gets everyone dancing in the layby... they are such precious memories.
An original and wonderful and extraordinary man. You both did family so well, despite your marriage breaking down. You know, weirdly, the marriage thing is kind of irrelevant, it is really love and respect that count - and you both kept those alive - and that is a hugh tribute to you both. I know you will carry on doing family brilliantly well, Clair, you are an amazing mother, and I hope you will find all the love and support from others to help you through this. How hard it must be for you now, to face the future without Carlos. Such an extraordinary array of emotions for you I imagine, and all the while having to manage and help the girls in their grief and guide them through this. If there is ANYTHING we can do to help you just pick up the phone, please.... We would love to come down for a week-end to Madrid in the next couple of months, but will wait for you to say if and when. We can always stay with Giles and Katherine, so you don’t have to do beds etc - you are going to need to conserve your energy now darling -