4 August 2010

My father's Eulogy

as contrived by my sister and read by my nephew.

Nonno ha vissuto una vita lunga e piene di amore, gioia e pure delle volte, il dispiacere. E venuto in Canada come tanti altri per comminciare una nuova vita. Posso solo immaginare quanto corragio ci é voluto per questa avventura. Peró sono sicuro che il suo camino in questa vita e stata sempre con Gesú. Ogni passo é stato guidato da Gesú.

My Grandfather, CAM, taught me three important lessons. The first one was that you should never put your light under a bushel. He knew how important it is to live your life in the light of Christ and to make sure that when you go our in the world, people spotted you. But you had to be spotted for doing what is right and for living a life lead by the rules that Jesus gave us.

This leads me to the second lesson. For my Nonno, there was no grey area when it came to right and wrong. You had to do everything right right from the start. If you followed the rules, and for my Nonno the rules were the Ten Commandments, then you were doing everything right. If, however, you did make a mistake or did something wrong, then Nonno would forgive you with love and compassion and even with humour. He might not do it it right away, but eventually he would come up to you, put a hand on your shoulder and you would know that all is right with the world.

This can only make me think that, somehow, my Nonno was, in his own uncanny way, an instrument of God on Earth. I remember the love he gave us. It was warm and it reminds that perhaps this is what the love of God must be like, and I know that now my Nonno can perfect that love with God and Jesus at his side. I can immagine that he is in heaven with his mother, A, father, C, and little brother, Zio F. spreading joy because of their sense of humour and fun they had here on earth.

The third lesson that Nonno gave to me is that family is the most important thing in life. It makes us who we are. It defines our personality and it outlasts us even when we die. I can see my Nonno living on. I see it in Mom’s sense of humour. Yeah, I know ... you’re thinking... she has a sense of humour? I can see in Zia Puff and her attention to detail and I can see it in my cousins too. But the place that I see it most in my nonna. She is alone now and I know that Nonno would want us to take care of her. I promise that we will Nonno because I know we will be guided by your love which was guided by Jesus and his infinite love and wisdom.
Bye Nonno.

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