Tribute to our mom read at her funeral on November 13, 2021.
Sweet, gentle loving mom,
We're so sorry you left us in this way.
Our hearts are broken...
Taide Mele was born in 1937, in Alezio, Puglia, the heel of southern Italy...where soon after, she was joined by siblings Tina and Antonio. Her upbringing was very modest indeed and it was in her early years (with the help of her mother Iolanda) that she began to grow a deep sense of spiritual devotion. A devotion that was also linked to her having great pride of her father Luigi who played the organ for services at the parish church in the small town of Sannicola. As a young adult, and like so many Italians of her time, mom left post-war Italy in order to make a living elsewhere...and contribute financially to her family back home. Eventually, she and her sister Tina, left for the small town of Biel-Bienne in northwest Switzerland.
In order to assist and integrate many young immigrants like our mother, the catholic church established La missione Cattolica di Lingua Italiana, a community run by the Italian clergy. So many couples were brought together there...with the help of Father Don Bové (BOH-vay). Happily it was in Biel-Bienne that she met her future husband, our dad Umberto. Taide, complete with her crisp white uniform, worked in a hospital while Umberto, intentionally not so crispy in dress, was a commercial painter. After their marriage in 1958, and at the urging of dad’s brother Gino Mio, they made the difficult decision to leave Europe and immigrate to Canada. They did not make the daunting journey together however. No, it was our father who first left Italy to set up a home base in Sault Ste Marie and then, about nine months or so later, mom joined him...both having arrived separately at Pier 21, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The road to Canadian citizenship and a new family life was paved in the Soo (where Victor and Roger were born) and later Toronto (where Fabio followed).
Dear mom, you were our first anchor.
Eventually a beautiful two-story house in a quiet neighbourhood of Mississauga, became the family home. Mom and Dad enjoyed going on family camping vacations, particularly to Cape Cod, Massachusetts these experiences were truly magical for all of us! On one occasion, as we strolled along the beach on the bay side of the Cape, Mom noticed that the rocks on the breakwater formation were encrusted with thousands of oysters...she was so excited...it was as though she had struck gold...so...what to do? Well, mom sprang into action and began to chip off as many oysters as possible, in record time in fact, placing them in a shallow basket for the car.
When finally returning to the campsite, she and dad had...a...feast! It was only later that they learned that collecting oysters in this way was, to put it mildly, i-l-l-e-g-a-l!
For those of you who are fans, this was very close to becoming another “Seinfeld” episode!
Time passed.
A few short years after the last family trip to Cape Cod, we were forced to endure a terrible tragedy. In 1980, Mom lost her husband and we lost our dad...in a car accident...in Sudbury, while he was returning home from a hunting trip in Northern Ontario. In the time following this devastating event, we brothers muddled through but Mom, now the core of the family, became very resilient and held things together as she too was recovering from her profound loss. Ultimately, she drew upon her own strength and determination and decided to find part-time work and obtain her driver’s license.
On one occasion, after practicing her driving skills under the supervision of Roger, she felt ready to go for that milestone of driving independence! So, there she was, sitting nervously in Roger's souped-up Charger, with the intimidating test official beside her and...ready to go?... but...unfortunately for mom...every time she touched the acceleration pedal, particularly when leaving stop signs, the car would squeal away very loudly. As you can imagine, that particular test did not go well! Thankfully though, on a visit to the Oakville Test Centre soon after with Victor and a far less souped up vehicle, she aced it.
As mom adjusted to her new life, she understood the power of prayer and rituals and became very involved with St. Patrick's church. She would pray the rosary daily (often several times) and support her sons in all the ways she could...in so many ways. She enjoyed celebrating the holiday seasons together with family, focusing on cooking and baking; music, singing, and dancing.
In the mid eighties, Victor and Roger were married and left home while Fabio, remained. It is during the three and a half decades which followed, that Mom and Fabio took care of each other. Understandably, they became very very close. We cannot underestimate the power of a mother’s love.
Mom's presence and dedication in our family’s life never wavered and she never hesitated to tell others how proud she was of her sons...nor to call us "my baby" in public, right until the end.
Dearest...sweet...gentle...loving...generous...funny...prayerful and courageous mom.
We are grateful for having had you in our lives beyond your 84th birthday!
We are so sorry that you had to leave us so abruptly and painfully.
Our hearts are broken...
Thank you for giving us our lives...
We will love you for the rest of our days, as we have always loved you, and we hope that you were right, that one day, we will all give you and dad a great big hug again.
