Dear Uncle Neno,

It is an honor for me to be able to express my feelings about someone who played such a major role in my life, in particular the last 20 years since my own father passed on.  The things I will miss the most are your boundless energy and enthusiasm, even when you were not well.  I always admired your unabashed openness and lack of inhibition.  There were times when we would be at a restaurant and before the check had come, you had made friends with a number of total strangers, the staff and people at other tables, often chewing over the “game” that day or reminiscing something about the old days when Santa Clara was a real town with characters and not just part of the valley sprawl.  You were gifted with this skill to strike up a conversation and share a laugh with anyone, on the spur of the moment.  Oh, how envious I was of that rare ability.  I think any capacity I have in that direction I must have inherited from you.  

But more than that I always thought of you as being one half of a marvelous partnership.  I can't think of you without thinking of Auntie Josie in the same breath.  You will always be halves of the same flower in my mind—a glorious white cyclamen.  You once said to me that a having a “good woman” in one's life made all the difference, and that without Auntie Josie your life would never have amounted to anything; well, I did not then, and still do not, believe that was entirely the case---but I understood your point, she was your inspiration and your rock.  Your partnership is the closest I could ever imagine to a perfect marriage.  I can only ponder the hole her sudden passing left in your mind and heart.

And like Auntie Josie you had a voracious appetite for knowledge, always keen to learn new things and never afraid to express an opinion.  I learned so much from you both—a lot about how to design and grow a garden, and for that I will always be forever thankful.  I believe that when Leonard Bernstein was writing his theme for the opera Candide, he must have had you and Auntie Josie in mind, when the young man proposes to his bride-to-be:  

Come and be my wife.
And let us try,
Before we die,
To make some sense of life.
We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good, but
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow...
And make our garden grow.

We are all grateful that God saw fit for you to spend your days at home, within view of the garden and sleeping in the bed you and Auntie Josie shared for so many wonderful years.  We are also all grateful to Mike, Bern and Marylyn and their families for making sure you felt the love of the family at every moment.  No man can ever achieve anything greater than the total devotion and love of his family; if this can be a measure of wealth, then you are the richest man who has ever lived.

“….and on wings of Angels, sing thee to thy sleep.”  God bless you, Uncle Neno

Your nephew,
Bob

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OBITUARIO

Neno Anthony Cardinalli

27 marzo, 1921 – 4 agosto, 2012

Lima Family Santa Clara Mortuary

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Neno Anthony Cardinalli

27 marzo, 1921 – 4 agosto, 2012

Lima Family Santa Clara Mortuary

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