Gone but not forgotten

Papa Rico died tragically in Panama a few weeks ago. It was instant and people who saw the accident said he did not suffer.

Rico and I became friends towards the ends of both our times in Key West. I knew the guy from his pizza joint for years but I never really ran into him much as you didn't ever really see him on Duval Street. A mutual friend told us both that we were both making plans for the same thing - Panama. I started making visits to his pizza truck next to Walgreens (he didn't have to pay rent for two years - he knew the developer of the condos that were going up and they gave him an 'easement' lol)and we became friends. He had T-shirts made for his Restaurant in Boquete before he even had a Restaurant in Boquete. A man on a mission...

He sometimes asked me to find out stuff for him on the web. We joked about how he was going to get his dough mixer to Panama. He made a particular trip down with one suitcase full of mixer parts and nothing else!

When I caught up with him in Boquete later that year he was already set up and selling his food and hanging out at the Panamonte. I was glad to see him happy and settled for he was a man who left Key West on a search for the end of his life.

He knew it and I think all who were close to him by the time he left the Keys knew it. Rico would not be returning to these Islands. And wherever he was going wouldn't necessarily be the last place either, but he had the feeling time was to short to not keep moving. That kind of thinking was what I liked to hear. I went to have pizza at the truck once or twice a week for a time and always told all my co-workers downtown about the kick-ass food around the corner from the front door of the Walgreens in New Town.

In the end I hadn't talked to Rico for a couple of years (he never really did the Internet) but kept tabs on him to a degree through another friend in Boquete. I was happy to hear Rico's last year of life was filled with happiness and friends and even a special someone. Rico's search was over it would seem. He found the perfect place to be when it was time to take the ultimate voyage.

It's a sad day for planet earth as there's one less place to get a bite of decent Italian here, but a happy day for wherever Papa Rico is going - try the pork loin and don't forget the cannolo!