Roslyn appreciated the simple things in life

Roslyn Charlotte Delapenha died Tuesday, May 9. Following is an edited version of the eulogy delivered by her daughter Abigail Tardieu at her funeral on May 17 at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Brampton Ontario, Canada.

We are gathered here today in the memory of my mother, Roslyn Charlotte Delapenha. Roslyn was only 82 years old when she passed away on Tuesday, May 9. She was born on April 13, 1941 in Trinidad and Tobago.

She was married to the love of her life Douglas for 60 years. Mom and dad got married in 1963, in Trinidad, I believe mom was only 22 years old. They had three beautiful children, Gabrielle, Richedean and myself, and 12 grandchildren.

Mom was so deeply in love with our father that she left her 10 siblings and sailed away to sunny Jamaica to begin her new life. After arriving in Jamaica, she got a job at The University of the West Indies as an administrative secretary at the Pathology department. She worked there for 45 years.

She was a woman of love, positivity, kindness, humility, and appreciated the simple things in life. Her love for her family and kindness were infused in everything she did, whether baking her Christmas cake, preparing a grand dinner on special occasions, or calling her siblings every morning just to say ‘Hello’.

One of the most important things in mom’s life was gardening, she took great pride in her flowers. Gardeners are special people as it requires a lot of patience and perseverance and a love for living things to grow a garden or a beautiful flower. She loved orchids.

There was beauty and satisfaction in seeing the results of her labour. Dad knows there was one plant he could not touch or water.

One of her favourite dishes was crab. When I would purchase it, I would call the house and let mom know crab running tonight. My husband, Terry jokingly would say to her, “Kitchen close, Mom”.

Mom kept her faith through all of her life trials. She never forgot God in anything she set out to do. She taught us to pray and reminded us to say the rosary daily.

I can assure you she is amongst us and is smiling today to see this huge gathering of her immediate family, sisters and brothers and friends.

On behalf of myself and the rest of the family I’d like to thank those of you who travelled long distances, who reached out to us during our time of need and who took the time to help us get this set up. You have no idea how much this has meant to our family. We love you mom and rest in peace.