“We Were Born for It”

The Felisa stamp has been described as “one of the most sought after on the camino“. What’s odd about it is that Felisa isn’t a place. Felisa is a person. Or, rather, Felisa was a person; she died in October 2002. She sat for many years at a weatherbeaten desk beside the Camino just before Logroño, offering water, figs, a host of Camino trinkets and paraphernalia to pilgrims, as well as the opportunity to stamp their Pilgrim passport.

The stamp mysteriously says “Felisa / Higos – Aqua y Amor” (Figs – Water, and love). Apparently figs are available during the season, but that’s in August, and we walked in the Spring.

After Felisa’s death, her daughter Maria took up the job. There’s a wonderful short (15 minute) film about her, where you can see a bit of her personality, as well as that of her dog.

It’s being reported that Maria has died, and that with her passing the Felisa stamp will become only a memory. It’s strange how things affect you sometimes. I probably haven’t thought about her since the last time I met here in 2016, but for some reason her death weighs heavy on me.

Ironic, since in the film she’s quoted as saying, “we all have to die sometime, because we were born for it”.

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine
Et lux perpetua luceat eis:
Requiescant in pace.
Amen.

Eternal rest, grant unto her, O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon her.
May she rest in peace.
Amen.

Here are some of my photos from 2013 and 2016 that feature Maria.