My last surviving aunt, Irene Carillo passed away recently, and that leaves my Dad Richard Diaz as the last and oldest person from all of his siblings. Full details of aunt Irene are on her page.
For now, I want to explore what it means to be “The Last Mohican”…literally and figuratively.
“The Last of the Mohicans” is a work of fiction written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826. A movie by the same title came out in 1992. Movie trailer here. The story is about the last three members of a dying American tribe, the Mohicans: Uncas (Eric Schweig), his father Chingachgook (Russel Means), and his adopted half-white brother Hawkeye (Daniel Day Lewis), who live in peace alongside the British colonists.
But when the daughters (Madeleine Stowe, Jodhi May) of a British Colonel are kidnapped by a traitorous scout, Hawkeye and Uncas must rescue them in the crossfire of a gruesome military conflict of which they wanted no part: the French and Indian War.
Figuratively, people tend to say when there is only one sibling left living in a family, they are “the last Mohican.”
At Irene’s Memorial Service, more than one of my cousins mentioned my Dad is the last Mohican. And my Dad has said that himself. I’m not sure he knows how to feel about that. I’m not sure how I would feel about that. Have you given it any thought?
It may seem appealing to live long like we Diaz’s tend to do. However, the longer you live, the greater the risk that you will outlive your spouse, your family, everyone you love and your lifelong friends. The greater the risk that you will be the last Mohican.
Con mucho cariño!
Rick Diaz Jr.