Sunday, October 13, 2013

"...mas sim o que ama."

Se quiseres conhecer uma pessoa, não lhe perguntes o que pensa, mas sim o que ama.
–Santo Agostinho

The above quote, attributed to Saint Augustine, reads in English: "If you want to know a person, ask him not what he thinks, but what he loves."

My brother David, currently in Brazil, re-sent a cute image, which contained that quote in Portuguese. The image shows a large, sleeping rabbit whose floppy ear serves as a blanket for a tiny, pink piglet cuddling close to his fluffy companion (see here).

David's wife, Patricia, hails from Fortaleza, Brazil. She just lost her aunt Regina at about 11:05AM on Saturday, Brazil time—barely three hours ago, as of this writing. Patricia is my little sister, now, and although I've never met her aunt, I heard nothing but good things about her from David who, back when he was courting Patricia, visited Brazil several times and enjoyed Tia Regina's magnificent hospitality. You may recall, on this blog, a series of almoço (lunch) food pics that I displayed, passed on to me by David (here, for example). Those bountiful meals were often thanks to the magic that Tia Regina and her relatives worked. Even from a distance, knowing as little about her as I did, I could see she was a woman with a fulsome, Texas-sized heart. She welcomed David, a potential in-law, with open arms, and made him part of Patricia's Brazilian family.

Tia Regina's passing wasn't unexpected: she had been fighting metastatic lung cancer for a long time, and David had wisely made it a financial priority to be able to visit Brazil, with his wife, as frequently as needed during the course of Patricia's aunt's sickness. Still, the fact that a death is not unexpected doesn't make it easy to bear; I know this from personal experience. For Patricia, this is the second major loss of a loved one: she lost her father years ago. Tia Regina was like a mother to her; I can only imagine Patricia's pain, and I grieve with her. My deep regret is that I never had the honor of meeting Regina myself.

My condolences go out to Patricia and her family. I hear, from David, that the funeral will be on Sunday. Peace and blessings upon all the bereaved.


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4 comments:

  1. I can only echo your fine words:

    Peace and blessings upon all the bereaved.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My condolences on the loss of an exceptional woman.

    (You may wish to consult a dictionary regarding the meaning of "fulsome," though.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Elisson,

    Dictonary.com's meaning #5 for "fulsome" is closest to what I was trying for. When I first encountered the word, it was in a context that evoked a positive connotation; I guess that's the connotation that has stuck with me over the years. There are doubtless a few words in my lexicon that are like that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. See also that entry's Usage Note, and if you scroll down a bit more, see definitions #2 and #3 (especially #3) in the World English Dictionary entry. That's really what I was trying for, thematically consistent with "Texas-sized."

    ReplyDelete

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