Lasting Legacy — Grateful, yet Grieving
What creates an enduring connection with our loved one? How do we stay connected to our person who has gone on to heaven? What is a lasting legacy? Some ways of honoring a loved one include planting a tree, designing a bench or rock with their name on it, or displaying something they loved in our home. It may be in the form of words through recipes, songs, poems, or stories.
Unbeknownst to me, a young woman attended my husband’s memorial service out of respect and in place of her parents, who were out of the country. From the viewpoint of learning who my husband was, through the stories we shared, she was intrigued and decided to write a book. As an author of fiction, she included my husband as inspiration for a character set in Croatia, where she grew up. What resulted is the book People, Prayer, & Pizza by Faith Riccomi.
The story is one of ordinary faithfulness. My husband was humble and hospitable. In 2010, he built a homemade pizza oven that sits on my back patio. After reading a book and watching a YouTube video, he collected the materials to create a brick oven in order to make pizza. It didn’t stop there. He went on to find the best recipe to make his own homemade pizza dough using just the right flour and olive oil. I can count the times I would call him on the phone while at the store to ask if he wanted bleached or unbleached flour.
Over the course of the next eight years, we would host dozens of people in our home for homemade wood-fired pizza. At his memorial service, I asked people to raise their hands if they had been to our home for pizza. A friend told me at least a hundred people raised their hands.
After a pizza party when people had gone home, my husband’s face reflected the delight of serving people. I still see it in my mind and smile. He simply served. It’s the way he’s remembered.
The dedication in the book People, Prayer, & Pizza the author says, “I now know my life doesn’t have to be big. For my God is big.” Such a good reminder that we all leave a legacy. It can simply be one of ordinary faithfulness to God and others.
