My father passed away a year ago, and I felt a deep well of depression, an inescapable draw that tainted every action, every color of feeling, that sapped my ve

My father passed away a year ago, and I felt a deep well of depression, an inescapable draw that tainted every action, every color of feeling, that sapped my very soul. I had booked a trip to Cartagena. I hadn't realized that I arrived on Fat Tuesday, and I don't think that it would have mattered. Arriving there, bathing in the insubstantial "joy d'vivre," the sinking feeling lifted. I remember that well, and it's cure. I love Latin America for this reason.