Saying Good~Bye...

One week ago my father's journey through this life came to an end and his new journey began. I've been struggling with my feelings since and I'm sure this struggle will go on for sometime. My mother who was a rock for the past two years while she struggled to care for dad has suddenly become very frail. Now our focus shifts to her and making sure she is cared for and comfortable. I'm very happy to have been with my dad when he passed, holding his hand and talking to him as he took his last breaths surrounded by the ones he loved and cared for and who loved him in return. He will be greatly missed by many people, but especially by those closest to him.

Time stands still for no one or nothing. It keeps going on no matter what and so must we...

One of the things that made the past week even sadder was the fact that two of my father's best friends also passed away. Three amazing souls gone in one week left our tiny town grieving. They are all gone now, my father and all of his friends who did so much for the community Chisholm.

The following was read at my father's funeral and I wanted to share it because I'm so proud of who he was.

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Rudy (Dad) Papa embodied all that is good in the human spirit.

 

He was a man of quiet and personal faith. He lived his faith by doing only good for his family, his hunting and fishing buddies, his friends and his co-workers. Everyone was in a better place when master story teller Rudy was around.

His warmth and generous spirit came from growing up in the large Vitali household. La Familia Vitali lives on through Rudy’s children and his brothers and sisters’ families who cherish the traditions and values passed down from their moms and dads.

Rudy’s hands tell his story. Those hands held his wife, his children , grand children and great grandchildren, taught his sons to hunt and fish, cooked the meals for sportsmen, made meatballs, sausage, polenta, gnocchi, ravioli, and castignoli. He left his mark here and in neighboring towns. You walk on his sidewalks, park at his curbs, live in homes secure on foundations his hands laid and blocks he placed, walk in halls and classrooms he cleaned and painted, park in lots he plowed, swim and compete on the courts and fields he prepared and repaired, and so fittingly now we gather here at St. Joseph’s that he helped build.

And Rudy’s hands brought us the  greatest gift of all..our Beloved Anna.... from her home in France some 66 years ago. She left her family to be welcomed by the Vitali’s. They became her family and Rudy knew that they would care for her like their own.

Rudy and Anna cherished one another. When they could no longer tend their garden together Anna tended to Rudy’s every need until Friday August 9. On Saturday Morning, August 10, Angels carried Rudy to join his daughter Rose Marie. May he rest in Peace.