Friday, October 6, 2017
To my cousins and all who were touched by Teresa Gascon Devlin, Michael and I extend our deepest condolences.
My Tia Teresa, my mother’s sister, was consistently extraordinary. Tia lived her adult life in the NY/NJ metro area. She was remarkable, smart, talented, beautiful, distinctly elegant, strong-minded, kind, and a loving human being. She was a true force. Profoundly successful in the truest sense of the word; she would apply her best skills and energy to do what was needed to take care of the most important things--feeding, educating and raising her children and grandchildren. And if a needy neighbor was hungry, she would make sure they had a good meal. She prevailed at the challenges of being a woman and an immigrant with modest means. She worked her way up through several jobs to become a forelady at a coat factory. Tia always managed to transform tough circumstances into something special: including clothes, food and gardens. My Aunt was self-aware and realistic. She used those assets to love others and to be fully human. It was all about the people in her life, her communities. Tia used tough love when it was necessary. She did not shy away from challenging loved ones for detrimental choices. So in the truest sense, love and humanity were her dearest values.
She moved to the States before I was born. My visits with her here or in Panama, and later with my husband Michael, were times of enchantment, love and laughs and GRRRREAT food. I admired how my Aunt challenged others to be genuine and to adapt to life’s circumstances. I loved her differentness, her courage to leave behind what was familiar, to learn and go abroad. Her life was at times tough. But she endured with big hugs. She lived a long life. The last time I visited Tia, with her eldest granddaughter Kathi, it was hard. But when Kathi kissed her, and I caressed her hair, she fully relaxed. She sensed the full circle of family love through our touch.
Tia’s legacy was living fully and loving, every moment, every day. My hope is that all of us, the people that you touched, Tia, can carry this on. I’ll try to be half as strong as you and to practice your wisdom, laugh more often, and always love, love, love. You’re a blessing. Farewell, Tia querida.
With love,
Dayra and Michael
