Marcía Sis García 1982-2010

The Girl Who Drew With Her Feet

There was a small shrine on the sidewalk a few weeks ago, consisting of a flickering candle in a tin can, a few flowers and a smiling photograph of Marcía with a large black plastic garbage bag made into a wreath and the typed notice of her recent passing.

Age 28 and crippled since birth, unable to use her hands or walk, she graced the stone sidewalk on the west side of Central Park in La Antigua Guatemala every morning. Bound to her wheelchair and assisted by her daughter, Cristina Sarai Sis, Marcía made the bus trip from nearby Jocotenango every day. The bus fare cost her almost as much as one of her sketches. Her father taught her at an early age to draw, using her deformed feet, to sketch animals, butterflies and her favorite bird, the quetzal. She died recently, set free from her earthly ties by a cerebral hemorrhage.

I confess that when I first moved here, I found myself avoiding her gaze. She was never like any of the other mendicants on the sidewalks, hands out for alms, displaying their infirmities. She never asked for money but always gave a smile for free. I found myself helping her daughter more than once as they left at dark for the bus station many blocks away.

The daughter wasn’t large or strong enough to negotiate the steep stone steps at the end of the passageway, burdened with Marcía and her wheelchair. I’d hold the top, near Marcía’s head, and her daughter would catch her feet, as the wheelchair bumped its way down two steep stone steps. She always smiled and thanked me.

I never knew they lived that far away. I will miss her smile. We’d begun to wink at each other lately, and I found myself stuffing spare change in her tip jar. I wish I’d bought one of her sketches, but I didn’t know she’d leave us so quickly. The American Legion has set up a scholarship fund for her daughter. I’ll be putting money in that pot and missing one of Antigua’s brightest stars, the girl with the Mona Lisa smile and the heart of gold.

Reference note: Profile and video of Marcía Sis, Revue Magazine, August 09 edition online

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