Nostra cara madre

Remembered for your calm acceptance of the way things were.
Listening to all and allowing others to believe what they believed.
Never offering extreme opinions.
Never a diva, always a gentlewoman.
If you were still with us, you would have been a centenarian.
On this day.
Miss you lots.

The power of being quietly spoken

Softly falls the memory…

Leonardo: Would have been her birthday.

Isabella: She was a wonderful mother. Medical training during the war. Did all the other things too, like sewing and gardening and bottling. 

Leonardo: Un momento di silenzio per ricordare Giovanna.

Isabella: I remember her as always being quietly spoken.

Leonardo: She didn’t like noise. She often used to say, "Empty vessels clang loudest."

_________

Voice-over

She had a quiet way with words too. Rephrased metaphors, sometimes combining Plato and Shakespeare.