Last week, I attended the funeral of a woman whom I never had the opportunity to meet, in spite of being friends with several members of her family. Her children expressed some thoughts regarding their Mother which I found to be very powerful and moving. With their permission, I am honoured to post them here:
“Our beloved Mom, Gilda, instilled these family values that we would like to share with you about living an honest, caring and loving existence. It’s about cherishing your Family and Friends.
Mom was all about Family and always wanted us around her. Unity and getting together on the weekends meant the world to her. If anyone couldn’t make it, she was sad and expressed an emptiness.
Mom was not tolerant about greed and hatred and always wanted to help people without being asked. She may have displayed a tough outer shell but once that was peeled away she was a giving, loving, caring Lady.
As we get together to pay our final respects to our beloved Mom, lets embrace all our Family Members. We never know when its our last precious day.
Let’s stop the madness that is taking place in our world today – too much injustice and disrespect.
Let’s take back our world and make it the peaceful caring and safe place that it should be.
Mom would say there is nothing you can’t do if you put your mind to it.”
Written by Ralph Ruffolo & Rita Soares, in tribute to their Mother, Gilda Ruffolo
You may wonder why I would wait a week to post this. What reasons would justify this delay?
Securing the family’s permission was one of them, but that was readily given.
Far more significant is the realization that we need to be reminded of these thoughts on an ongoing basis. At the time of the funeral, it was easy to understand and value the importance of what the family was expressing. These beautifully written words speak not only of Gilda’s legacy of love, kindness and generosity, but also of the hope that our immediate, extended and global families may too embrace the vision she had.
But by today . . . another week down the road, perhaps our busy lives have begun to blur these sacred thoughts . . . to say nothing of a month or year from now.
I invite you to embrace your friends and loved ones, live these caring thoughts, and remind yourself on a regular basis of the value of family, both immediate and global. Let’s honour Gilda by putting our minds to healing this world, one hug at a time.
©2019-08-17