Tony Martinelli
How does a mom’s son thank all the “someone’s” in her life in three (3) minutes? First, I breathe. In nature, one’s upbeat attitude, being cool under pressure, and knowing that ‘this too shall pass,’ helps. My mom would want to thank all of you who made it today, and know that even if someone she knew could not make it, she appreciated them.
Lee Iacocca said, “the discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.” Mom always emphasized school as an academic tool, not a social one. Her favorite topic was self-help, and she overcame judgmentalism and hypocrisy. Inclusion from going out of her comfort zone, to going to festivals at the Seattle Center Park, and studying each culture’s culinary and unique history made my mom a natural leader.
Mom practiced secrecy and discretion in her own sexual life, but grew to the beautiful woman we all knew or have “come” to appreciate. Buddhists might say, ‘I alone am,’ we “came out” together. Hundreds of sexual minorities who called themselves my friend found Mom to be a courageous leader and personal champion for their minority rights. Sometimes I had hungry guests. Linda offered to take all of us to lunch. A few hundred meals in a sit-down style restaurant, the last many of those men would have.
Linda was the wise young “grasshopper” of my dreams.
Mathematicians are like butterflies or grasshoppers.
The scars from our past have hurt us enough.
A journey of salvation.
Tears will evolve into smiles. Thank you
