Im on a plane coming back from Los Angles to Miami. I will be happy to be in my own bed after an 11 day trip that started with the Miller Motorsports Park weekend that ended our Cadillac race season so well. I changed the last part of my trip so that I could attend the funeral of my friend Julius mum, Olga Tanzo. I arrived into LAX around 4 pm yesterday, picked up my rental car and spent about an hour and a half in rush hour traffic to get to get over to pay respects at the viewing. There were so many people there it was amazing to see, easily 200. I met several relatives and paid my respects to Olgas husband Cesar who met me with a warm handshake and a big hug. As I stood in the back of the room listening to the people singing beautiful traditional Filipino songs, I could see the grief on the faces of many. It looked to me that a visibly grieving Cesar was lovingly looking towards his wife, maybe wishing she would wake from what looked like a peaceful sleep and say hello to him once more, I was deeply moved by everything I saw and felt. I said my goodbyes after a some time and drove to my sixth hotel in 11 days. In the morning I headed back to the cemetery for the 9am services. I got there early and decided to take in the scene of all the people arriving before going inside. I texted a very good friend of mine in Canada as I waited, telling her where I was and why I was there. As I was texting it became obvious to me that I was not happy. Olga had been killed by a red light runner. All I saw before me, the grief, the stress, the loss, everything, was because someone selfishly chose to look at their phone, drive drunk, drive tired, ignore laws, pick up something off the passenger seat, be mentally blind in a phone call or whatever and run a red light, ending Olgas life. This gentle man Cesar, who had written a love note to Olga when he was 4 years old, starting a love affair that had lasted the 70 years since, is now left alone, with grief and questions. I could not keep typing to my friend, because I couldnt see to type. At that moment, I had a feeling that Olga would want me to stop. I did stop and I took a long breath. I spoke to many people there during the morning. From all I heard, I believe Olga would say, move on, celebrate my life, remember the wonderful times we had and the wonderful things we did. I know thats what my mum would have said and it seemed like Olga was no different. It struck me two days ago that it was almost 2 years to the day since my mum passed also. I want to thank the whole Tanzo family for welcoming me in and allowing me to be there and for treating me, as family. I did not know Olga for long and only spoke with her a few times but I knew from the moment I met her, she was a special lady and it was obvious from so many stories, she was indeed. One of the most memorable things I heard was from her daughter who said she was everyones second mum, I will never forget that. I was encouraged to write here from a lady who came up to me during the service and held my hand. She thanked me for what I had written on Facebook. She told me I had said what many had wanted to say about Olga and her fight to live and she thanked me. It was a very emotional moment for both of us. I was told by Julius that this lady was a god daughter. I know Ill keep working against this plague of distracted driving, in fact I will be talking to over 200 parents tomorrow lunch time in Fort Lauderdale about it and I will do my best to not get angry Olga, I really will, but its not easy... Rest in Peace Olga, rest in Peace...........
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 02:11:18 +0000
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