In each of these people I see qualities I hope that I have, in some way, acquired and will be able to pass along to La Luz. With the exception of Mema V., I was lucky enough to have known all of these people very well and I have beautiful memories of my time spent with them. I have always tried to share stories about their lives with my younger cousins and I hope that I will remember the stories when La Luz asks me if Dama was the kindest person I have ever known, if Grandad was the perfect example of a gentleman who loved his family above all things in the world, if Mema E. was the one that made us love books and if she really woke Pop up every morning by clanging around pots and pans in the kitchen, and if Nana really did ply us with candy and marry someone who owned an ice-cream factory. I don't know as much about Mema V. but when La Luz asks me to tell her a story about the most courageous woman I have ever met she will hear her story but she will also hear that Mema V. had an excellent sense of humor and was always joking around.
When I think back on all of the people who are no longer here but who are still such an intricate part of my life I feel like I am blessed.
"Let us now sing the praises of famous men, our ancestors in their generations."
Ecclesiates 44:1-2
1 comment:
Your tribute is lovely, and I'm sure that all of the ancestors are smiling on you. Feel sure that you have inherited many of those beautiful traits you described, just as Lucy has from you and Christian. Those "Spirits in the Sky" are magnificent guides who have much to tell us if we stop to remember them.
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