Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Gail did not need recognition. She was not the kind of person who took credit for her many exceptional deeds and creations. So it strikes me when I write this it is not exactly for her. It’s really for me and the people who love her. No matter how much I tell you that she was so creative, determined, and curious as a young girl. How she bonded with the animals and flowers of the wood like a sylvan Diana. How she ran fleet of foot, feeling free as a young woman. If I told you she fell in love with a beautiful young man (John Ungar) from Germany with a beguiling Saxish accent ingrained from ‘the old country’ and showed him happiness I am sure he could never have dreamed of, it is really for the warmth I feel in my own heart when I write it. When I ruminate on the four remarkable children (Jeff, Julie, Mark, Karen) she formed in her person and brought forth and raised with such great love and generosity it is my own joy I increase. Especially to consider that, apart from my own life (thanks to my Mom and Dad), she gave me the greatest gift I will ever know in the form of the knight in shining armor known as John Jeffrey Ungar, her first born: my soul mate. If I say that she cultivated gardens and fruits, tended the lives and happiness of fish, dogs, and rabbits – then it is because it makes me smile to think on it. And, if I say she showed a grace though her grief that anyone would be awed by when she lost her first husband to illness, it’s because it gives me inspiration to move through our own harder times. And, again, to know she found great love and partnership with the steadfast, adoring man (John Koza) who has been at her side these last decades rebuilding those gardens and beautiful paths, it gives me courage. Gail showed gentleness in a way as to give it potency. She demonstrated giving in a way that made you want to be a better person and give back. She dreamed in sage greens and lilac purples. She could make you laugh at the drop of a hat. And, my goodness, she had elegant style! Most of all she quietly made the world a better place for everyone she knew, and many who will never know all she did (and will probably always be doing). She supported me like I was one of her own, like a true friend. She’d never ask me to write this. She’d divert the conversation to the accomplishments of one of her kids or grandkids. I do hope she does not mind me saying all this because it means so much to shine my humble light on a person whom I believe we can all take inspiration from as we interact with each other. Or, as she would put it: “take care of one another.” I love you, always, Gail.
