Beyond Borders

Gilbert says:

Thank you for visiting my post and liking my post on Mission Summer.
I visited your own site. Thank you for your ministry. God bless you and care for you as you serve Him.
Gilbert

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Mary Rudy says:

Dear David
I wrote this once, but I think it got erased. If it’s a duplicate, forgive me.
My name is Mary Diaso Rudy. I have met you several times, but that was when you were a very little boy and I’m not sure you remember me. I do hope you remember my brother, Bruce Diaso. We are your father’s first cousins.

I just looked in the Fresno Bee obit section two days ago and learned that your mother and father both passed in the spring.

David, I am so sorry for your loss.

I loved your Dad ( and of course your mom, but I knew her less well). Ronnie (as we called him) was a little older than Bruce, but they were close as children. When my brother contracted polio at 14 (I was 4) my family was devastated.
Your father would come around and help my father with the things Bruce did when he could move. He would mow the lawn, or fix things around the house. Quietly, (for Ronnie was always a man of few words) but consistently, he helped our family as it coped with Bruce’s illness. Ronnie teased me mercilessly and I loved it. He called me his little cousin. For me he was fun when everyone else was sad.
Then came the time when he brought Virginia over to introduce her to our family. We loved her with her dark brown ponytail and dark brown eyes. My mother especially liked that she was Portuguese because my mother was Portuguese. Then Ronnie went into the Army and we visited him at Fort Ord when he was stationed there.
By then Bruce was on his way and I was growing up and we didn’t see too much of each other. I do remember when he came back from the army with Virginia as his wife and his first baby. Again, I did meet you a few times over the those years but then I was on my way out of Fresno.
I always heard about Ronnie and his family through my parents though, and I knew how proud your parents were of all of you in your own way. And I would visit with him and my Aunt Joanne and Uncle John when I did come to Fresno. And When Bruce return to Fresno to open a law practice I know that he and Ronnie saw each other.
When Bruce died so suddenly, Ronnie again was there. In the background but ready to help my father. And when my father died your mother and father stepped forward quickly to help Judy and I with 1 million things we needed to do. Ronnie knew Fresno and knew how to get things done. He helped us both with our grief and moving our mother up to live with us. Then there were the number of funerals I went home to over the years. His parents, my mother, some old Italian relatives and after my sister died I visited your parents twice. I didn’t wanna lose touch with him. Although our lives were so different, Ronnie was a touch stone for me. Every time I saw him, he would hug me and call me his little cousin. And, as always, he was filled with warmth
Last time I saw your father was about five years ago. I took a trip down to see him and I promised I would write and keep in touch. Then I got pretty seriously ill and was out of commission for about three years. I don’t believe your parents ever knew that. Again
Again, I was on my way down to Fresno when Covid hit. Last month I got obsessed with getting in touch with your father and I couldn’t find the phone number. Just two days ago I looked in the Bee, something I never do, and I saw the obituary.
I’m so sorry I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. My memories of your father are really before you were born, David. He was a kind and warm cousin and he unknowingly helped a little girl deal with her brother’s illness. For that I am forever grateful.
If you could, could you please write me a quick note and let me know about your mother and father’s passing. It would be helpful to me.
Thank you, Mary Diaso Rudy

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