Tuesday, July 20, 2010

For George

George passed away this week.  He was a wonderful man that loved Beethoven and his family and friends.  He ushered almost every Vanguard Voices concert in the last 16 years!  He loved to garden and put in the biggest garden of his life this year!  He came here from Romania when he was about 20 years old, he left there because he did not want to be a communist.
He came to America with $5 in his pocket and was able to find a job as a tool and die worker.  He was very good at that.  In the sermon they made it very clear he believed in education and he wanted his grandchildren, all boys, to believe in education too.
After the dinner Carol and Linda gave us each 2 loaves of sweet bread to take home. It is a Romanian tradition to give these away after a funeral.  It symbolizes life.  
Again I ask...how do we want to be remembered?  

1 comment:

Rosemary said...

You've lost some good people lately, I'm sorry for that, and it is great that you remember them and knew them so well. So often in our daily grind we don't get to know the people around us beyond simple pleasantries.

George also sounds like he was a doer, a person who had drive and force of personality. I cannot imagine the fear that you'd have to overcome to leave your homeland and go far away with little to no money and only your brains and ambition to carry you through. But he did well and sounds like he had a rich and full life.